Ahmed Hussen Makes History As The 1st Somali-Canadian Member Of Parliament!!!

[knet]

“This is a great day for Somali Canadians and a day to remember” Said Mahad Shafie, a Somali-Canadian businessman who lives in Ottawa.

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TORONTO (HOL) – The surprise victory by the Liberal Somali candidate Ahmed Hussen who swept York South-Weston with a strong lead has raised hopes for the Canadian Somali community which has long been struggling to make political inroads in Canada.

Mr. Hussein, has defeated the NDP’s incumbent Mike Sullivan, making him the first Somali-Canadian MP in Canada.

“This is a great day for Somali Canadians and a day to remember” Said Mahad Shafie, a Somali-Canadian businessman who lives in Ottawa.[/size]

As the news of his election went viral on the mainstream media, thousands of Somalis took to the social media, describing his victory as ‘momentous’, a development which may inspire more Somalis in Canada to run for the upcoming elections.

“It’s a moment of hope, a moment of inspiration.” tweeted Ali Ahmed, a community activist in Toronto.

Born and raised in Somalia, Mr. Hussein has immigrated to Canada in 1993 and he settled in Regent Park. Struggling to get an employment, he immediately gravitated towards public service according to his campaign website.

In addition, he currently serves as the National President of the Canadian Somali Congress – a Somali community organization that works with national and regional authorities to advocate on issues of importance to Canadians of Somali heritage and strengthen civic engagement and integration.

“This is the beginning of a new political era for Somali Canadians in the future, hoping that every Somali Canadian must be proud of this historical achievement executed by our newly elected politician Mr Ahmed Hussein.” said Ali Hagi Awiisa, a HOL reader.

Canada has one of the largest Somali populations in the western world. Unofficial estimates placing the figure as high as 150,000. The early 1990s saw an increase in the total number of Somali immigrants entering the country, with some secondary migration from the United States.

http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2015/Oct/1 ... unity.aspx

[gegiroor]

Congratulations to Ahmed Hussein, to his family, and to all who supported him and vote for him

[26June1960]

Congratulations to Ahmed Hussein. He has made history. The level of xaasidnimo on Somalinet is preposterous. Not a single member send his congratulations to this fellow Somali that succeeded in making history, apart from Gegiroor, Knet and myself.

[FarhanYare]

Congratulations to Ahmed Hussein. He has made history. The level of xaasidnimo on Somalinet is preposterous. Not a single member send his congratulations to this fellow Somali that succeeded in making history, apart from Gegiroor, Knet and myself.

qasab miyaa iin laba jeer congratulations la bixiyo. Knet made the same thread on politics section

[knet]

Congratulations to Ahmed Hussein. He has made history. The level of xaasidnimo on Somalinet is preposterous. Not a single member send his congratulations to this fellow Somali that succeeded in making history, apart from Gegiroor, Knet and myself.

99% of this place has the MJ cancer, things like this make them sick to their stomach even if it gives all Somalis a good look.

They can't be cured, killing them off one at a time with post like these has been my method. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if one of them already died of a heart attack. Another win.

Let the progress Continue to restore the Somali imagine tarnished by those with the MJ cancer. Amin.

[FarhanYare]

Congratulations to Ahmed Hussein. He has made history. The level of xaasidnimo on Somalinet is preposterous. Not a single member send his congratulations to this fellow Somali that succeeded in making history, apart from Gegiroor, Knet and myself.

99% of this place has the MJ cancer, things like this make them sick to their stomach even if it gives all Somalis a good look.

They can't be cured, killing them off one at a time with post like these has been my method. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if one of them already died of a heart attack. Another win.

Let the progress Continue to restore the Somali imagine tarnished by those with the MJ cancer. Amin.

[BlackRain]

Congrats to Ahmed Hussen. I though Abdi Warsame did great but this guy did even better. Two reer Mahad following the legacy of the late Abdullahi Yusuf

[Basra-]

knet aka Chelsea


How come his wife does not cover her hair? I hope he makes a difference in Somali community. He should be a community candidate and focus on Somali Youth just like Obama Focused on Black Youth in South Chicago. Good luck.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Congratulations to Ahmed Hussein. He has made history. The level of xaasidnimo on Somalinet is preposterous. Not a single member send his congratulations to this fellow Somali that succeeded in making history, apart from Gegiroor, Knet and myself.

Get a grip you moron oo cuqdada iska saar. Ma khasab baa loo hambalyeneyaa?

Congratulations to the Ahmed and his family.

[jamal9]

he is mj, so he will only support his tol. i hope he gets kicked out as an MP.

[knet]

Congrats to Ahmed Hussen. I though Abdi Warsame did great but this guy did even better. Two reer Mahad following the legacy of the late Abdullahi Yusuf

It's in the Mahad blood line.

[gegiroor]

Congrats to Ahmed Hussen. I though Abdi Warsame did great but this guy did even better. Two reer Mahad following the legacy of the late Abdullahi Yusuf

It's in the Mahad blood line.

Reer Mahad Faarax Shirwac

[Sophisticate]

I already congratulated the brother. June26 needs to stop being so sensitive.

[gegiroor]

From refugee to MP: Ahmed Hussen’s remarkable path to Parliament

Hussen, who arrived in Canada alone at 16, was elected Canada’s first Somali-Canadian MP on Monday.


Ahmed Hussen shows his love for his volunteers in his campaign office on Lawrence Ave.

By: Marco Chown Oved Staff Reporter, Published on Thu Oct 22 2015


When Ahmed Hussen strides down Weston Rd, cars stop and shop owners emerge from their storefronts, women kiss his cheeks and teenagers want selfies and fist bumps.

“Congratulations!” one man yells. “Mabrouk!” cries another, echoing the sentiment in Arabic.

“Thank you,” Hussen responds, flashing his big smile and adding “shukran” without missing a beat.

Since his election victory on Monday evening, Hussen, 39, has become a celebrity whose fame extends beyond his York South-Weston riding. The first Canadian of Somali descent to be elected to the House of Commons has been getting Facebook messages from Africa and media requests from the BBC.

The Star named Hussen a “person to watch” back in 2004, putting him on the front page as someone who was going to make a difference in the city.

“I don’t think I could handle the life of a politician,” he said at the time. “I like following it and I like working in it. But I don’t want to be front and centre.”

He keeps a framed copy of the article on the wall in his campaign office, and when the words are pointed out to him, he laughs, saying only: “Well, that’s what I thought at the time.”

Hussen has traced an improbable path to Parliament Hill, one that could inspire anyone who has grown up in poverty, faced adversity or felt the sting of discrimination — because he knows all three.

After arriving alone as a 16-year-old refugee from Mogadishu, Hussen completed high school in Hamilton and then moved in with one of his brothers, who had secured a subsidized apartment in Regent Park.

A backlog in refugee applications for permanent residency meant that Hussen couldn’t qualify for a student loan. So instead of waiting for his papers, he got a job and spent more than a year commuting nearly two hours to pump gas at a station in Mississauga, where he was paid $6.85 an hour.

“The fact that I lived in public housing was crucial to being able to save for university,” he said in an interview with Star Touch.
Talking with his hands and closing his eyes to remember the scene, Hussen described how, after graduating from York, he found himself pounding the pavement back in Regent, when he came upon a flyer for a barbecue hosted by local MPP George Smitherman. He attended, determined to secure a volunteer position at Queen’s Park.

“I wanted to use volunteer experience to get a job. I never thought I would end up working there,” he said.
Smitherman was so impressed with Hussen that he encouraged the young man to apply for a job in then-Opposition leader Dalton McGuinty’s office. Hussen got it, and when the Liberals won the election in 2003, he followed McGuinty to the premier’s office.
Surprisingly, Hussen says he didn’t learn his most important political lessons at the provincial legislature; they came closer to home.
Fed up with his housing conditions, Hussen helped form the Regent Park Community Council, which took a leadership role in advocating for residents during the $500-million revitalization project. The council negotiated additional subsidized units in the new Regent Park plan as well as more businesses, services and amenities.

“I was working in Queen’s Park all day, and then returning home to organize for Regent Park in the evenings and on weekends,” he said.
Hussein left the premier’s office to become president of the Canadian Somali Congress, which worked with police, schools and governments across the country on cross-cultural programs, many of which were outdated and still focused on adaptation and settlement instead of integration.

“In Alberta, folks forget that that community is made up of Canadians from Ontario; they’re not recent refugees from Somalia,” he said. “And that’s important, because it has an effect on the relationship the police and the school board have with the community. We worked really hard to correct that.”

Now trained as a lawyer and practising in Weston, the father of two young boys is heading to Ottawa, where he’s determined to avoid being a token Somali MP.

“I’m not a guy who’s going to only serve one community,” he says. “I’m trying to show people that you can exercise leadership outside your community.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/10 ... ament.html