Liberal MPP Margarett Best says we can share the lesson that anything is possible

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that a person of colour, an African American, would be elected as the president of the United States of America in my lifetime. The election of Barack Obama gives me a feeling of optimism about the future. I believe that the effect that president-elect Obama will have on Canadians is an increased belief that opportunity is available to every person regardless of race, culture, or socio-economic circumstances.

In Canada, like all other places in the world, there is always room for improvement. Now we are at the point in history where we must recognize that opportunities should exist for all who wish to be involved. It’s not an easy road, but the momentum of Obama’s election is an opportunity for us to make those changes.

I believe that you have to have that perspective when you’re involved with any type of elected office, and the perspective that I had was that race was not an issue. I always felt that I would be successful. It’s very important for people of colour to realize that the opportunity is there, but we must take the chance to get involved.

It’s not necessarily easy, but we have to go out there and be positive and give it our best shot. I’m here as an African-Canadian — the only African-Canadian in the Ontario legislature — and Barack Obama has achieved great things in the United States of America. We are proof that people of colour around the world can succeed.

When I ran for elected office, many people who’ve never voted before came out and voted for the first time. I met people who hadn’t voted in 40 years, but came out and voted for the first time. I would go into places and people said to me, “We’ve never voted before but we’re coming out,” and they became engaged in the process because I ran. And we’ve seen the same thing in the United States, people who’ve never voted before, but for some reason became engaged enough to go out and vote. But now they feel a part of this process and that they can make a difference and that they have a voice.

In Ontario, we have an organization called Operation Black Vote Canada. This organization has been instrumental in trying to support and encourage African-Canadians to get involved in the electoral process. I think with the election of Barack Obama that we will see more interest not just from African-Canadians but from all kinds of people of colour who now feel that they too can get involved. And that’s what we need; we live in a multicultural society and everyone likes to be engaged. When I go out as a minister of the Ontario government, I always take the opportunity to encourage African-Canadians to get involved in politics. In any community, it’s not just a matter of developing strong political candidates; I think our goal should be to develop good people. We have to give the young people in our communities the confidence that they need to realize that the door is not shut to their dreams, that their achievement will be based on effort and content of character, and not the limitations that society tries to place on them.

Change has come to America, but change has also come to Canada and the rest of the world. I certainly hope this will propel people of colour to get involved in politics and get to the point where someone will run and we will see the day when we talk about the first person of colour as Prime Minister of Canada.

Originally published in Sway Magazine, Winter 2009