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In recognition of Black History Month, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 46 in Toronto will host an event later this month titled Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present and Building for the Future.

The union hall’s biggest-ever event to honour Black achievements, the gathering will feature speakers from all three major political parties at both provincial and federal levels.

“When you look at the union’s history and see how far we have come (breaking down racial barriers) I think it is a significant thing for us to celebrate,” says Ivan Dawns, the union hall’s political director.

Dawns left Jamaica for Canada in 1997 and, through a friend’s referral, began working in the drywall trade. As the only Black worker on many jobsites, he often found himself confronting racist remarks.

Times have changed through a combination of zero tolerance anti-racism campaigns, cultural, structural and economic changes, and opening up the field to Black people and other underrepresented groups.

Dawns hopes while honouring Black achievements, the Feb. 20 event’s speakers will also be prompted to focus their remarks on building a stronger future for underrepresented groups and the broader community.

“A friend of mine always said to me: ‘Everyone should plant a shade tree that they will never sit under.’

“We have a part to play to shape the future, to make it easier for the next generation,” says Dawns, who became IUPAT’s first Black business representative in Canada in 2013, a role that has led him to be a staunch advocate for representation and equity in the trades.

He says bringing back trades training to high schools would be a step in the right direction to connecting more young people with careers in the building industry.  

Through community outreach initiatives, including trades’ awareness campaigns in high schools, Dawns says more parents are becoming open to their sons and daughters pursuing careers in construction though there is still progress to be made. 

“They used to think the trades were dead-end jobs, but that is not the case. I’m not a rich man but I make a decent living because of the trade,” he says.

To help address the growing skilled labour shortage in the short term, Dawns promotes mutual Red Seal equivalency recognition programs between countries to expedite the certification process for foreign tradespeople.

Dawns says the union’s role includes giving back to the community. 

Among his outreach efforts is a Christmas dinner he helped organize for the past five years in which he “cooks and serves” meals for 180 to 250 homeless people at a mission shelter in Oshawa.  

While at first he used his own money to hold the dinner, IUPAT has since come forward to finance the annual gathering.

About 100 people are expected to attend the Black History Month celebration at the union hall. DC 46 has close to 10,000 members. 

Dawns hopes other IUPAT halls, including those stateside, will follow DC 46’s lead.

He adds the “multicultural union” can go further by hosting other events focusing on different groups and minorities to celebrate their contributions to the industry.