From Capital Pride's International Grand Marshall
August 6, is Jamaica's 51st year of independence. In honour of the occasion I penned this short note which I hope you will find helpful.
JAMAICA AND CANADA As a Jamaican landed immigrant of Canada I am proud of the contribution my homeland has made to the development of my new adopted country. Jamaica and Canada share a long history. An interesting fact is that the French once wanted the British to trade them Jamaica for Canada. The Brits declined because, at the time, Jamaica was much more valuable. The first P.M. of united Canada, Sir John A. McDonald also married a Jamaican. The railway was significant to uniting Canada as a country and prevented it from being absorbed by the USA. Jamaica had the first railway in the British empire after the UK. Sir John A. McDonald therefore aggressively supported the Canadian railway and he named his own private rail car JAMAICA. Jamaicans have continued to support Canada in many significant ways. Canadian arts have benefitted from substantial endowments by Jamaican- Canadian Michael Lee-Chin, and Canadian education has been enriched by the contributions of Jamaican-Canadian, Dr. Raymond Chang who served as Chancellor of Ryerson University. Jamaican-Canadadians have also contributed to Canadian athletic glory, including Donovan Bailey who broke the world record for the 100 metres in the 1996 Olympics. The flow of support has by no means been one directional and Canada has tangibly enhanced Jamaica's development. Our bauxite industry received significant assistance from Canadian mining interests. Our national airline, Air Jamaica, which was central to our tourism industry, was started as a collaboration with Air Canada. Our laws have been enriched by Canadian jurisprudence and Jamaica copied significant sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the development of our own Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms passed in 2011. From August 19-25, I have the distinct honour of representing Jamaica as the international grand marshall at Capital Pride in Ottawa. While in Ottawa I hope to meet the Jamaican High Commissioner to Canada, Her Excellency Sheila Sealy Monteith, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for some years. It is my earnest desire the the High Commissioner will join me in encouraging all Jamaicans to continue the adoption of excellent best practices from Canada, including the principle of inclusiveness. After all, Jamaica's national motto already speaks to this theme: OUT OF MANY, ONE PEOPLE!
Best, Maurice Tomlinson, Jamaican LGBT Activist
