Mr. Speaker, yesterday Nova Scotia and Canada lost one of its trail-blazing civil rights activists, Joan Jones.
Joan was a force of nature and the power behind many important struggles for environmental, economic, and racial justice. She was known for her razor-sharp wit and never didn't say what she thought. She expected people to step up when it came to fighting anti-Black racism and not to be self-absorbed in that stepping up.
Among the many projects she led, Joan founded the Nova Scotia Project with her then husband Rocky Jones to tackle anti-Black racism and she advocated with Children's Aid Halifax to make sure that Black children taken into care were properly cared for.
Her selfless work led her to raising and teaching a new generation of civil rights activists around her kitchen table, which served as headquarters in the early days of the Black rights movement in Halifax.
On behalf of the NDP caucus, I want to extend my deep sympathy to Joan's large family and her many friends.