Reminders To Those Who Sent June Callwood to Hell in 1991

June Callwood, the revered Canadian social activist who died recently, has been effectively canonized over the past few weeks. Known admiringly as Saint June or Canada's Mother Teresa, Callwood undoubtedly deserves the innumerable tributes that she has received. However, many of the people who are now canonizing her should remember that they sent her to hell in 1991 and kept her there for many years. They should also recall that they have sent many others to Hell and left them there.

In 1974, Callwood had helped to establish Nellie's, one of 50 social organizations that she helped to found in her lifetime. Nellie's was a women's shelter in Toronto, only the second of its kind in that city at that time. Because of immigration over the years, the racial composition of Nellie's Board and Staff had changed considerably. By 1991, both Board and Staff had become "intensely divided by colour".

Instead of being thanked and respected for the important foundational work she had done, the accomplished writer Callwood came to be regarded as "a woman of privilege who was unwilling to share power"---despite the fact that she came from a humble background, had not even completed High School and had a reputation for fairness. When a black staff member at Nellie's rose to complain at a meeting about racism, Callwood argued forcefully with the woman about these allegations, dismissing the woman's charges, but other board members felt she was being overbearing and accused her of being insensitive to a woman of colour.

The charges and lack of support did not leave a temporary sting. Seven years later, in a 1998 CBC Television interview, Callwood vividly described the situation that ensued: "The room erupted. People leaped to their feet yelling 'racist'." She couldn't breathe. "...I was strangling," she said.