The December meeting of the Anglophone South District Education Council began with the swearing-in of its newest member.

Matthew Martin of Black Lives Matter New Brunswick is the new representative for east Saint John.

“I really wanted to provide my perspective, the expertise I can bring around diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility to the table,” Martin said.

Martin is also interested in population growth as Saint John looks to welcome more newcomers.

Through his work, Martin said he deals with a lot of racialized youth in the school system.

“The negatives and the positives so that’s has really given me some perspective to where there is absolutely some room where there should be some growth and some change,” he said.

Martin said the process to join the District Education Council for fairly easy, likening it to a job application.

As for whether he was welcomed by the DEC members, Martin replied, “yes, absolutely!”