By Septembre Anderson
Photography Anna Keenan, Styling Donovan Whyte

Senator Don Meredith has come a long way. From the hills of St. Ann, Jamaica to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the Jamaican-Canadian has risen from humble beginnings to the Senate of Canada to achieve the Canadian dream and make history in the process.

On Feb. 1, 2011, Meredith was sworn into the senate, becoming the fourth Canadian of African-descent and the first Jamaican-Canadian to be appointed in the country’s 144-year history.

“I am humbled that I am making history in this way,” says Meredith. “I’m glad that I can be joined up with Senator Anne Cools, the first Bajan to be appointed, and Nova Scotian senator Calvin Ruck and another Nova Scotian Donald Oliver, whose grandfather was a slave. It is historic that I’m aligning myself with these people who’ve stood the test of time as trailblazers.”

Meredith, the second of 10 children, grew up economically impoverished in Jamaica with his eyes steadily fixed on the prize. “I’ve always been optimistic about life and even though we lived in a two bedroom house, everyone sharing everything, we had a sense of community and we loved each other. There was still, in my mind anyway, a bright future ahead of me,” he says.

It is this sense of unity that pushed Meredith into public service. After immigrating to Canada, and settling in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood of Toronto in 1976, Meredith began dedicating his time and energy to serving his community. In February 2003, in an attempt to draw attention to the escalating youth violence, he co-founded the GTA Faith Alliance, an interfaith community organization.

Working closely with the Toronto and York Region police services, Meredith set about developing an action plan to address youth violence and other community issues. Empowering youth and eliminating the problems that plague them seems to be Meredith’s raison d’être. Through the GTA Faith Alliance, Meredith has been able to catch the ear of politicians, police officers, religious leaders and the public.

“I believe that we need to preserve life,” he says. “We’ve seen countless numbers of young people in our urban centres across our country being taken down by gun violence or stabbings or other means and we need to make sure that we as community leaders, as individual Canadians, are concerned and not just apathetic to the plight of our youth.”

Meredith is a charismatic man with boundless energy—and he needs to be to maintain the juggling act of the many hats he wears. In addition to being a senator and community activist, he is also a husband and father to two children (Dominique, 19, and David, 18), an ordained minister, the founder and owner of Donscape Landscaping Services, and a volunteer pastor at the Pentecostal Praise Centre in Vaughan, Ont.

Between three weekly trips to Ottawa to sit in the highest boardroom in the country to managing his corporate landscaping business, his schedule is tight. And yet he still makes time for family and God. “I am just touching every little thing and it’s coming out 100 per cent all over,” he says. “I’m blessed that God allows my 10 per cent in all those areas to be multiplied into 100 per cent so everybody feels satisfied and no one feels like they are being robbed. It’s an awesome responsibility that comes with my position and I hold that in great esteem. I am a man of God mostly and so my strength comes from Him to carry out my responsibilities and my duties, and I try to govern myself accordingly.”

In addition to God, Meredith says he is also inspired by his mother, and historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and fellow African-Canadians, including former Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, Governor General Michaëlle Jean and Canadian civil rights leader Bromley Armstrong. The senator says these notable Canadians have blazed the trail on which he now walks. And like them, he also casts his gaze on specific issues and challenges that plague the Black community, like unity.

“One of the main things that I believe is still affecting us is our inability to unite as a strong body,” he says. “That is holding us back. There is such autonomy when there is unity. If we come together as a Black community, we are bright, intelligent. We have the wherewithal, if we unite with our resources, our talents and our abilities.”

While Meredith is still pinching himself almost a year after his senate appointment, he takes his responsibility to Canadians, especially Black ones, seriously. “It’s important to recognize that as you climb higher, there are greater responsibilities that make you more accountable to those who are coming behind you,” says Meredith. “What I do now will determine who comes next and what kind of legacy I leave for them to follow.”

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