By Samuel Getachew

Between organizing a hip-hop conference in the hope of engaging young people to the important task of political activism or advising why the mining and oil & gas sectors need to embrace the Diversity of Youth at conferences, Rad Dockery is making waves on Bay Street as well as main street. Sway caught up with the York University graduate and head of HigherEye as he reflects on one the issues of youth in business and politics, here at home and abroad.

You have been a passionate voice for many causes and issues. Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Toronto. My parents came here in the early ‘70s from Jamaica. I have a business degree from York University and have been involved in many political, economic and education projects. Professional experiences range from roles at HBC, Zurich, IBM, Canada Post and with clients in China, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

You were a short-term blogger on election issues for the Toronto Star - Speak your mind - What was the experience like?

It was actually eye opening. I decided that instead of trying to inject too much of my political ideology into my articles, I decided to go after issues most reporters avoid - health care funding, education and entrepreneurship. It was interesting to see how a mainstream paper like the Star was intrigued by my articles and how other bloggers, editors found my points of view to be ‘controversial’ yet thought provoking.

It is important that, when in the eyes of the media, we stop trying to be so ‘politically correct’ all the time and start being honest, straight forward about our views on issues. My experience with the Star confirmed that for me.

Looking at the participation of blacks in politics in Canada, how far have we come from the days of the past?

We have digressed! There is a lot of talk but when many blacks run for office it is the lack of support from other blacks that is concerning. It is very difficult to run for office and one would expect support from their own community but rarely obtain it. Or we see the other end of the spectrum, where our candidates spend too much time in the black community and ignore others. Overall politically, we have become irrelevant and powerless.

It is time we get off our old political ideologies and start to engage based on what is best for us. As well, we have to accept the reality - some of the issues relevant to blacks in Peel may be different than for blacks in Malvern simply due to the every day reality facing people where they live. For political effectiveness we also have to address our economics, financial well being with urgency.

Tell us about the Canada-South Africa Chamber of Business

It is Canada’s largest chamber of commerce focused on trade between Canada and the Southern African Region. I am a member of the board of the chamber. My goal is to ensure that Canadians and Africans are realizing the business, social and economic opportunities between both regions. On a personal note, my hope is that black-owned Canadian firms start to take Africa more seriously as a place to do business or to trade with. This will require us to start opening businesses in fields of mining, engineering, oil/gas, green energy, law, technology, wholesale, distribution and transportation. These are fields that the black community in Canada is fairly weak in, honestly speaking!

You have been to Botswana on a few occasions. What surprised you most about the continent as well as Botswana?

The similarities between Botswana/Southern Africa and the Caribbean really shocked me. Much of the food is similar, just prepared differently. Also many of the mannerisms were very much in common with us from the Caribbean. Such as “kissing our teeth.” It was refreshing. As well, the amount of economic development was astonishing. Botswana and the Southern African region is really taking infrastructure and IT seriously. However another surprise that was somewhat disappointing was with the amount of red tape in Botswana and lack of seriousness in addressing youth unemployment.

Overall, Africa is filled with opportunity and her people are filled with energy. I encourage all Canadians to visit a nation in Africa, it will destroy many of the negative stereotypes.

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