Will politicians ever keep Africville promises?

HBeaumont — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:13:18 +0000

Carvery takes election vows with a church-sized grain of salt

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil squints into the sunlight on Sunday afternoon at Seaview Memorial Park in Halifax. Glancing down at his speech on the podium, he purses his lips towards three thin black microphones, preparing to speak.

“A Liberal government will recognize the memory and spirit of Africville by restoring the Seaview Baptist Church and by creating an interpretive centre on the site,” McNeil reads.

Irvine Carvery, watching nearby from behind the cameras, has heard it all before. Politicians have promised to help the Africville Genealogy Society President so many times that when he tries to recall specific dates, or even years, he can’t be sure.

McNeil came late to Carvery’s long awaited project: the resurrection of his community’s church. When Nova Scotia’s provincial election was called for June 9, Carvery acted quickly. He garnered the support of the province’s New Democrats first and the Conservatives soon after. The former Africville resident does not endorse any of the three parties.

So when the Liberal Leader spouted his vow of $2.2 million over four years, Carvery thought: “show me”.

Carvery is 57 years young – a born optimist, he often says. The wrinkles on the outside corners of his eyes are the topographical evidence of how often he smiles.

“We still remain at the whims of government,” he laughed during a casual coffee shop chat three weeks before McNeil’s announcement. “As always.”

But when asked to describe the City of Halifax’s actions in the 1960s toward the village where he grew up, the corners of Carvery’s mouth turn down.

“It was a form of genocide and it’s cultural genocide, which can be – in my opinion – more devastating,” he said, adding that he does not mean to trivialize historically recognized genocides. “It was race based; it was because we were black, because we were poor.”

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