All posts on 2016

After 48 years of practice, Dr. Nii Quao will not renew his medical license Contact Staff It feels as if the community is being left  with a missing link with the retirement of Dr. Nii Quao and closing of the Westside Medical Clinic on Girouard Ave in NDG. The clinic has been open since 1973 serving Montrealers and thousands of patients from our community during that period. In a letter dated November 15, Dr. Quao confirmed “current rumors” to his patients that he will not be renewing his license to practice medicine and closing the clinic effective January 1, 2017. …

Nova Scotian Entrepreneur and Community builder honored   The Bank of Canada’s decision to put Viola Desmond on the new Canadian $10 bill is a fitting tribute to a woman who framed a legacy of activism, entrepreneurship and community development. On December 8, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen S. Poloz, together with Minister of Finance Bill Morneau and Minister of Status of Women Patty Hajdu announced that Viola Desmond be featured on a new bank note, expected in late 2018. This will mark the first time that a portrait of a Canadian woman will be featured on a regularly circulating …

Local boxer Shakeel Phinn has a New Gym and New title in hand Egbert Gaye As 2016 comes to a close, Canadian Super Middleweight champion Shakeel Phinn is looking back at an action-packed year that brought some big challenges and some hard-earned successes. This year he had six grueling fights, one of which earned him the title, and he saw a dream come true with the opening of his fitness gym in Ville Emard on the south- west edge of Montreal. Now he is hoping to take it to the next level in 2017. “Next year I’m looking forward to …

Tamara Thermitus, an accomplished civil litigation lawyer nomination stymied by politics Maya Johnson Tamara Thermitus, an accomplished Haitian-born civil litigation lawyer with the Department of Justice Canada, has found herself at the center of a political tug-of-war at the National Assembly over who should become the new head of the Quebec Human Rights Commission. To be named to the position, Thermitus needs the support of at least two thirds of MNAs, but unanimity is preferred. In the final days of the fall session at the National Assembly, the government and opposition parties sparred over her candidacy. Earlier this month, La …

By Gemma Raeburn-Baynes This year 2016 was a memorable one  for our community, which met with happiness and celebration for some and trials and tribulations for many. We laughed together and we cried together. We said goodbye to many in our community. Our hearts were broken by the deaths of some young people in the community, namely Darius Brown and Bill Duncan, who left us with so many unanswered questions. Recently, Community Contact Newspaper lost one of its precious family members, Mr. Bob White. Never again will we be privy to those barbershop conversations.  The world lost Prince and Cuba’s …

In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize and what it symbolizes, there should be one awarded to those nations and political leaders that have been, and continue to be, complicit in helping the vaunted Nobel Peace Prize, for whatever its worth, lose its glitter. It’s time to seriously consider such a yet-to-be-named prize. The Nobel thing is simply not living up to its billing… How so? Simply because for generations and all those years I have been living and hearing about (and coming to understand) the significance of the “prize” there hasn’t been any peace to think of. And at …

SEEKING A UNIFYING AND CREDIBLE VOICE for the community FROM THE LIONS DEN: Clarence Bayne Most Blacks in Montreal in the 50 to 85 age group can recall the experience of the sense of  purpose and unity of  voice and achievement that the Black community as a whole felt under the leadership and philosophy of the Black Community Council of Quebec (BCRC). This was matched at the National level by the National Black Coalition of Canada. The BCCQ was a Pan-Black umbrella organization that excluded organizations that  were religion-based, gender-oriented, or country of origin specific. It served the English Speaking …

I grew up in a house full of Christmas music. When I wasn’t religiously watching the usual children televisions specials like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” or “Frosty The Snowman”, I was busy listening to Mahalia Jackson while compiling my list of Christmas wants, e.g.: Six Million Dollar Man action figure, Muppet Show drum set, Superman pyjamas, and of course the latest albums by Curtis Mayfield, The Commodores and James Brown. Oh, there were the standard Christmas hits played as well, like “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Gene Autry and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” …

Novel Thomas Longtime Liberal MP Warren Allmand died on Wednesday, December 7. He was 84. For over 30 years, Allmand served at all political levels—federally, provincially and municipally. An indefatigable champion of human rights and other social justice issues he fought for the issues that were close to his heart uncompromisingly. Allmand’s commitment to social justice was seeded at a young age during the Great Depression; it was a period that helped to nurture his comprehension of humanity and served him in good stead in his adult life, and more specifically throughout his political life. A lawyer by profession, Allmand …

Roger Muhammad The weekend of November 18-20, the Muhammad Study Group of Montreal and members of the LOC joined forces with visionary Black economic activist Kerlande Mibel and successful Black entrepreneur Frantz Saintellemy to organize the city’s first edition of the International Black Economic Forum. The forum brought together more than 50 high profile business entrepreneurs, MBAs, CEOs, Project Management experts coming from all parts of Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and the United States. This cadre of skilled professionals offered training and coaching to Montreal’s Black Community in areas such as business, real estate acquisition and financial investment techniques. The …