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EMANCIPATION DAY

HBHAS Emancipation Flag

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One of our key stone events is raising the HBHAS Emancipation Flag at Burlington City Hall.

 

The flag raising happens on the Thursday before Emancipation Day/Civic Holiday.

“Burlington is the first city in the world to acclaim August as Emancipation Month” – 2018 Halton Freedom Celebration Festival – Dewitt Lee III

 

Emancipation Month Act, 2021

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Bill 75, An Act to proclaim the month of August as Emancipation Month received Royal Assent in Ontario on Dec. 9, 2021. 

 

Known as Emancipation Month Act, 2021, it came into that same day:

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"Ontario acknowledges and recognizes the Slavery Abolition Act,1833, eliminating slavery in most of the British
colonies at that time. It received Royal Assent on August 28, 1833 and took effect on August 1, 1834."

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Early Black Pioneers

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According to the Act, "Emancipation Month is a time for healing, unification and restoration.

 

It is about eliminating discrimination by continuing to educate and advance the importance of racial equity across the province.

 

Emancipation Month will help build a more inclusive province, where everyone is treated with fairness, respect and dignity."

EMANCIPATION
TIMELINE

June 19, 1793 

John White, the Attorney General of Upper Canada introduced a bill to abolish slavery: An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude (also known as the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada)

July 9, 1793

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Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe gave the bill Royal Assent

2007-2010

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