Dunn says he ‘didn’t exactly anticipate the backlash’ after he was appointed as minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs

非洲新星事务部长帕特·邓恩（Pat Dunn）上周向哈利法克斯审查员讲述了办公室的工作以及他在秋季被任命后面对的“反对”。

Following last summer’s provincial election, the Examiner was first to ask ‘Who will be the next minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs?’ after the Progressive Conservatives were elected to a majority government, but failed to have any of their Black candidates elected, despite running the most diverse slate of candidates.

Following Dunn’s appointment, the Examiner and other media outletsreported on the negative reaction从该省的黑人社区到任命，以及对黑人的KésaMunroe-Anderson博士的解雇，并担任社区，文化和遗产部副部长。

Munroe-Anderson was replaced by Justin Huston, who is white.

周四，邓恩（Dunn）告诉审查员，由于他在2006年进入政治之前，他在新格拉斯哥的黑人社区中的角色和联系。新格拉斯哥的黑人学生参加的教育中心参加。

“I did have a very good rapport with a lot of the students, and a lot of their parents, from a school perspective, from a social perspective, from a coaching perspective, and so on,” Dunn said during the phone interview with the Examiner. “I was actually quite comfortable when I heard I was being appointed minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs.”

“我会对你说实话，我并没有完全期待这种强烈反对。我理解原因，以及某些人感觉到这种方式的原因。许多反弹的人当然不认识我。他们没有经验，与我交谈，没有机会与我所在地区的人们交谈，他们可能会为我保证，我是什么类型的个人等等。”

Following a series of virtual meetings among hundreds of Black Nova Scotians who were upset at Dunn’s appointment and Munroe-Anderson’s firing, Dunn and Premier Tim Houston met with members of a working group to listen to their concerns.

休斯顿随后任命了前PC MLA候选人Dwayne Provo，他是黑人，为办公室的副部长。

Provo recently delivered a virtual address to commemorate the province’s first-ever Black Excellence Day in Nova Scotia schools. He also hosted the province’s virtual launch of African Heritage Month in February.

Though the Examiner’s questions were directed toward Dunn on Thursday, Provo was also in the interview.

Dunn said the role of the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs (ANSA) is to put forward and advance the interests of African Nova Scotians throughout what he and Provo described as the province’s “50-plus” African Nova Scotian physical communities. Dunn said the office has the “ability and role of working right across government (with) all the various departments.”

The Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs is a division of the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage and has been so since the office was first formed in 2003. The Examiner asked Dunn about African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition’s (ANSDPAD) public stance that the office should be made into a full department of its own, complete with a Black minister and an all-Black advisory council.

邓恩说：“我现在不倾斜。”“我们一直非常活跃，非常忙于与全省社区合作，启动新办公室，与团体会面等等。因此，这是我们现在的首要任务。”

“And regardless, if it was a department, or an office, or a division, we would still be doing the same thing: assisting the community and being a connection to all government departments.”

邓恩说，这并不意味着将来不会改变，而是“暂时它将像以前的政府一样保持这种状态。”

审查员还向邓恩询问了芒罗·安德森的解雇。

邓恩说：“这一切发生在[我被任命之前]。”“我不熟悉它；我相信这是人力资源问题。而且我从来没有机会见过她，之后再也没有和她交谈过。”

邓恩当考官问他为什么没有达到啊ut to Munroe-Anderson after her dismissal, Dunn’s communications advisor, Amelia Jarvis, who is Black, said that the interview time was up and that Dunn had left the call.

(The Examiner has since reached out to Munroe-Anderson, but she declined comment for this story.)

在星期四晚上，审查员与普罗沃（Provo）进行了简短的交谈，普罗沃（Provo）参加了Delmore“ Buddy” Daye Dayy Institute向社区的报告。

普罗沃说，在接受审查员采访后，他和邓恩立即参加了一次会议，以帮助建立新的非洲新斯科舍省事务的区域办事处。

There are currently regional offices in Yarmouth, Sydney, and Truro. In January, African Nova Scotian Affairs announced new offices will open in Digby, New Glasgow, and Preston.

邓恩对审查员的采访持续了10分钟。审查员对邓恩有许多问题，包括：

• Provo and Huston’s roles, and how they contrast and work with each another.
• The status of the three new African Nova Scotian Affairs regional offices in Digby, New Glasgow, and the Preston area that were announced in January, as well as the role and daily operations of the three existing regional offices in Yarmouth, Sydney, and Truro.
• ANSA与黑人社区组织之间正在进行的沟通，黑人家庭会议和非洲新斯科舍派十年（ANSDPAD）的非洲新星十年。
• 邓恩（Dunn）的标准构成了非洲新星斯科舍省的实物。
• And his reaction to Black community’s concerns over the firing of Dr. Munroe-Anderson.

Jarvis said she would be in contact early this week to set up a second interview with the minister.