(Jamaica Observer) Reverend Don Meredith has created history in becoming the first Jamaican and the fourth black person to be appointed to the Senate in Canada.
Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, who announced the appointment of Rev Meredith and former Canadian Football League Commissioner, Larry Smith to the Senate on December 20, said that “both are well regarded and visible figures in their communities, who will bring a wealth of experience in business, philanthropy, sport and community initiatives to their new role as senators”.
Rev Don Meredith fills a vacancy in Ontario. Prime Minister Harper said he is looking forward to working with the two new appointees, who “have pledged to support the government in its efforts to make the senate more democratic and accountable, including (passing) legislation to limit senate tenure and to allow provinces to elect their Senators.”
Speaking to JIS News recently, Rev Meredith — who is Pastor of the Pentecostal Praise Centre in Ontario — said that he was very excited, humbled and proud to serve as a Canadian Senator, and called the appointment a “gift from the Lord”.
The 47-year-old, who hails from the parish of St Ann, is a strong community leader and advocate and has volunteered his service to several groups. Among them are Black Community Police Consultative Committee; York Region Police Chief’s Advisory Committee; Toronto Police Service Chief’s Advisory Service; York Regional Community Police Liaison; Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Consultative Committee; and B’Nai Brith Special Advisory Council to the League for Human Rights.
He is the recipient of many awards for his outstanding work, including the Urban Leadership Award from the Canadian Urban Institute and the Toronto Police Service 13 Division Community Service Award.
The businessman, who owns a landscaping business, is also passionate about assisting young people, which he does through the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Faith Alliance that he co-founded and now serves as Executive Director.
The interfaith group was formed in 2002 in response to the escalating violence among young black males in the community. It places focus on education and recently opened a community centre to train young people in computer software and repair. The goal is to open another 69 centres across the GTA, Rev Meredith said.
“Government agencies and police sometimes don’t have the solutions and they are looking to the faith community to lend support rather than throwing negative remarks,” the pastor said.
“It’s incumbent upon us, when we look at the situation of our young black males being killed that our leaders have got to stand and step up to the plate and say we are not here to criticise, but to help,” he added.
According to Rev Meredith, young people are being influenced by negative behaviours, which are pulling them away from the core values of self-respect, self-dignity, self-esteem and pride, and they need guidance in order to realise their true potential.
“They are looking for guidance and someone to love them and appreciate them and sometimes they look for those things in the wrong places. As leaders, we need to become surrogate fathers to those young males and females and teach them how they should present themselves. What’s lacking in our society today is that young people are not being raised with the same value system we were raised with,” he argued.
Born in Rhoden Hall, St Ann, a stone’s throw from the birthplace of reggae icon Bob Marley, Rev Meredith migrated to Canada in 1976 at the age of 12 and committed his life to the Lord two years later. A graduate of Weston Collegiate Institute in Toronto, he attended several post-secondary institutions and holds a master’s degree in theology from the California State Christian University.
