Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Lincoln Alexander
1922 – 2012
Canada's first Black Member of Parliament
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Canada Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
The first Black Canadian elected to the House of Commons, the first in the federal cabinet, and the first to serve as a province's lieutenant governor.
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander was the son of a Jamaican-born railway porter and a Trinidadian maid, and grew up in Toronto and Hamilton being told what jobs were not available to him. He served as a wireless operator in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, then took a law degree and practised in Hamilton.
In 1968 he won Hamilton West and became the first Black Member of Parliament in Canadian history. In 1979 Joe Clark made him Minister of Labour, the first Black member of a federal cabinet. In 1985 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario — the Crown's representative in Canada's largest province, and the first Black person to hold a vice-regal post anywhere in the country — and served six years, the longest term in the province's history to that point.
He spent his later years as chancellor of the University of Guelph and chairing the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and made a point of spending his time in schools. Parliament made 21 January Lincoln Alexander Day across Canada.
In 1968 he won Hamilton West and became the first Black Member of Parliament in Canadian history. In 1979 Joe Clark made him Minister of Labour, the first Black member of a federal cabinet. In 1985 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario — the Crown's representative in Canada's largest province, and the first Black person to hold a vice-regal post anywhere in the country — and served six years, the longest term in the province's history to that point.
He spent his later years as chancellor of the University of Guelph and chairing the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and made a point of spending his time in schools. Parliament made 21 January Lincoln Alexander Day across Canada.
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