Toronto Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Coteau was part of a delegation of eight MPs and senators that was part of the first ever meeting between Canada’s Parliamentary Black Caucus and the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus and five legacy Black civil rights.

“In the Americas, there’s 200 million Black people and we don’t know each other politically. The fact that it’s taken this long for Black politicians from Canada and the United States to connect for the first time is pretty astonishing,” Parliamentary Black Caucus co-chair Coteau told the Toronto Star.

The group’s other co-chair, Sen. Rosemary Moodie, said the long-anticipated trip finally offered a chance to “deepen the social and economic ties between our two countries.”

Canada’s group is also presently home to its highest number of members, but at 14 MPs and senators, the eight-year-old caucus is much smaller and wields far less influence.

The group of American lawmakers boasts 58 members — the largest number in its 52-year history. While the group is meant to be non-partisan, its membership is currently made up solely of Democrats.

The Canadians meet the members of the civil rights group’s organizations on the grounds of Washington’s Howard University.  The meetings were also held to honor the third anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, noted that their organization was founded in the Niagara region of Canada because African Americas could not convene safely on U.S. soil.

Over the decades, American-based Port of Harlem magazine has proudly acknowledged African Canadians including coverage of the then proposed release of the Viola Desmond  $10 Canadian banknote, the inclusion of Richard Pierpoint in the Port of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership’s exhibit “West Africans in Early America.” 

And, most recently, the inclusion of Rosemary Sadlier in the “From These Shores” exhibit. Both exhibits are part of the permanent collection of the Juffureh Slavery Museum in Juffureh, North Bank, The Gambia. A search for Canada on our site will also list stories an array of people from Deborah Cox to Josiah Henson.

“A wonderful and timely formal connection of our shared histories and experiences,” commented Sadlier. “Truly the start of something important,” she continued.