Dignitaries have unveiled a brand new plaque in Toronto as a part of a broader effort to make sure Canada is aware of the contributions the No. 2 Development Battalion made through the First World Battle.
Chris Parris was amongst these in attendance throughout Thursday’s ceremony. The 76-year-old served within the Canadian Armed Forces for 32 years, however his grandfather Seldon was a member of what was also referred to as the Black Battalion. It was based in 1916 and solely comprised of Black males who needed to volunteer with the warfare effort.
When requested to explain the unit, Parris described it as “probably Canada’s deepest and darkest secret about Black people.”
“Canadians decided they would volunteer and fight for king and for country. Black men stepped forward and said, ‘I also want to volunteer and fight for king and country, but they were told, ‘It’s a white man’s world,” Kevin Junor, a retired sergeant-major with the Canadian Armed Forces, informed the viewers.
“They went home and decided they needed to do something. Now if it was me, I’d go home, I would relax, have coffee, have dinner, but not these men.”
Two years after the warfare started, the army moved to start out accepting Black males. It opened recruiting places of work throughout Canada, and the one in Toronto was positioned on King Road West close to College Avenue. Fifteen males in Toronto joined the No. 2 Development Battalion. There have been different ones all through Ontario: Hamilton, St. Catharines, Fort Erie, Windsor, Chatham, London and Owen Sound.
“Enlist today and prove your gratitude for the precious heritage of freedom found only in the British Empire and under the British Flag. Fight for that flag, maintain it in the future as it has been maintained in the past,” an advert signed by a lieutenant colonel in Nova Scotia and printed through the warfare stated.
The advert particularly said the battalion was for racialized males and concerned building work on the entrance. Nevertheless, anti-Black racism meant those that enlisted to assist didn’t see motion.
Officers stated those that enlisted have been at first tasked with taking off rails from railway sidings in New Brunswick to ship to France. They ultimately have been despatched to England and France to chop and transport timber. It was used for constructing and reinforcing trenches. Sustaining sure roads and working utilities additionally fell to them.
Regardless of their efforts, they have been subjected to segregation and anti-Black racism.
Because the oldest surviving member of his household, Parris recalled sitting along with his grandfather and listening to concerning the battalion.
“He told me that Black people could not be trusted with a gun therefore the No. 2 Construction Battalion never had any weapons,” he stated.
“All they had was shovels, axes and picks, and all they were used for were building roads and digging ditches and getting everything ready.”
A plaque was put in at Queen’s Park in 1920 because the unit disbanded to acknowledge the battalion’s service, however it could take till 2022 for the federal authorities to formally apologize to descendants of the boys who served for the racism they skilled. Since then, the federal authorities has invested $500,000 towards varied initiatives to commemorate the battalion.
The Metropolis of Toronto and Heritage Toronto created a plaque that was unveiled by Ontario’s lieutenant governor Edith Dumont, Mayor Olivia Chow and federal Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor. It is going to ultimately be put in on the northwest nook of College Avenue and King Road West.
“[The plaque] will serve as a permanent and stark reminder of the resilience it took for these men … to serve our country,” Petitpas Taylor stated.
The ceremony additionally served as a name to motion to deal with ongoing injustices Black individuals face to today.
“Allow us to recommit ourselves to say no to anti-Black racism,” Chow implored.
It’s a sentiment Parris echoed whereas encouraging larger schooling concerning the battalion.
“As long as we have hate and as long as we have distrust in the world, people are going to be that way. However, we can just correct when we see it happening, correct the individuals that are doing it, and remember that racism is inherited. Kids aren’t born with it, it’s taught, so let’s get educating the older people and get them on the right board as well,” Parris added.
“All politicians from Toronto going east are to acknowledge that the No. 2 Construction Battalion did exist, and the reason why it existed, and that the men of the No. 2 Construction Battalion were also honourable and brave and heroes, nonetheless, the same as all the whites.”
