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Lincoln Alexander
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- BlackPast - Biography of Lincoln MacCauley Alexander
- The Canadian Encyclopedia - Biography of Lincoln Alexander
- Lincoln Alexander - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
Lincoln Alexander (born January 21, 1922, Toronto, Ontario, Canada—died October 19, 2012, Hamilton, Ontario) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who was the first Black member of the Canadian Parliament , serving in the House of Commons (1968–80); the first Black cabinet member, as minister of labour (1979–80); and the first Black person to hold a viceregal office in Canada , as the 24th lieutenant governor of Ontario (1985–91).
Alexander was born in Canada to parents who had immigrated from the West Indies . He served as a radio operator in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II . In 1949 he received a bachelor’s degree from McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario. After graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto in 1953, Alexander practiced criminal law in Hamilton. In 1965 he was given the honorary title of Queen’s Counsel by the Ontario government. His law partners helped engender in him an interest in politics that led to his running for Parliament.
Alexander began his career in public office in 1968. In the face of the Liberal Party ’s sweep of that year’s general election, he became the only member of the Progressive Conservative Party to be elected from an Ontario urban centre. As member of Parliament for Hamilton West, Alexander earned a reputation for honesty and directness. In the House of Commons he served his party as spokesperson on such subjects as housing, labour, immigration, and welfare. Alexander was reelected to the House of Commons four times. He was also designated observer to the United Nations for Canada in 1976 and 1978. When the Conservatives formed a government after the 1979 general election, Prime Minister Joe Clark appointed Alexander minister of labour in his short-lived cabinet. In 1980 Alexander resigned his parliamentary seat to become chair of the Ontario Workers’ Compensation Board.
On September 20, 1985, Alexander became lieutenant governor of Ontario, a largely ceremonial position. After he left the viceregal office in 1991, he served five terms as chancellor of the University of Guelph , Ontario, retiring in 2007. In 2006 Alexander published his autobiography, Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy .
Alexander received many honours in his lifetime and after, including having an expressway, schools, and other buildings named for him. He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1992 and a Knight of Justice of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1994. In 2013 Ontario’s legislature officially designated every January 21—Alexander’s date of birth—as Lincoln Alexander Day. The following year the Canadian Parliament made Lincoln Alexander Day an annual observance across Canada.
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Lincoln Alexander
Article by James W. St.G. Walker
Updated by Eli Yarhi; Clayton Ma
Published Online January 7, 2013
Last Edited January 22, 2024
Early Life and Service
Lincoln Alexander was the oldest son of Caribbean immigrant parents. His mother, Mae Rose, was from Jamaica and his father, Lincoln, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. At the time, job opportunities were limited for Black Canadians . Though his father was a carpenter by trade, he worked as a sleeping car porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway . His mother worked as a maid.
After his mother and father separated when he was a teenager, Alexander lived with his mother in Harlem, New York City, for a few years. It was in Harlem that Alexander encountered role models with greater positions than those available to Black men in Canada. He later wrote that this experience in Harlem “stiffened my resolve to be more than a porter.”
He returned to Toronto in 1939, shortly after the start of the Second World War . Though he was too young to enlist, he worked as a machinist at a factory in Hamilton , making anti-aircraft guns for the war effort.
In 1942, Alexander joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), a branch of the armed forces that often restricted non-Whites from entering service. Because Alexander had poor eyesight, he was not eligible for combat. He trained instead as a wireless operator, and served with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Portage la Prairie , Manitoba . When he was honourably discharged in 1945, he held the rank of corporal.
Law and Politics
After the Second World War , Lincoln Alexander turned to higher education. He earned a BA from McMaster University in 1949, followed by a degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1953 ( see Osgoode Hall ). Alexander first practised law at a small firm in Hamilton before starting his own firm. In 1965, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel , an honorary title that recognizes a lawyer’s contribution to the legal profession.
Alexander’s ambitions began to shift from law to politics. In his memoir, Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy (2006), Alexander mentions a 1960 tour through some 23 African nations that had significant impact on his point of view:
“The experience was an eye-opener for me, not only as a lawyer, but also as a human being, because I began to realize what Black people could do. I saw that, unlike the Hollywood version, these Africans were men and women of significant talents. I became conscious of my Blackness. I had come from a White world. Now we were in Africa, and I realized we are people of skill and creativity. I was a Black man and I was a somebody. I started standing tall.”
In 1965, Alexander entered politics, running as Conservative member of Parliament (MP) for Hamilton West, but was defeated by less than 2,500 votes. Three years later, on 25 June 1968, he won the seat, making him the first Black Canadian to sit in the House of Commons . In his first speech before the House on 20 September 1968, he said:
“I am not the spokesman for the Negro; that honour has not been given to me. Do not let me ever give anyone that impression. However, I want the record to show that I accept the responsibility of speaking for him and all others in this great nation who feel that they are the subjects of discrimination because of race, creed or colour.”
He was re-elected four times, serving a total of 12 years.
One of many memorable moments during Alexander’s time in the House of Commons occurred in February 1971. Alexander and Newfoundland MP John Lundrigan alleged that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had mouthed the words f--- off to them during Question Period. Trudeau famously denied swearing in the House, claiming instead that he had mouthed “fuddle duddle.” In his 2006 memoir, Alexander was adamant, “He definitely told us to f--- off.”
In 1979, Alexander was appointed minister of labour in the Joe Clark government, becoming the first Black Canadian to serve in Cabinet . In 1980, he resigned his seat when Ontario Premier Bill Davis appointed him chair of the Ontario Workers’ Compensation Board, where he served for five years ( see Workers’ Compensation ).
Lieutenant-Governor
On 20 September 1985, Lincoln Alexander was sworn in as Ontario’s 24th lieutenant-governor , the first Black Canadian to be appointed to a viceregal position in Canada ( see Lieutenant-Governors of Ontario ). As lieutenant-governor, Alexander was able to take an active role in the multicultural affairs of Ontario. Alexander’s mandate was to fight racism, advance the cause of youth and advocate for seniors.
In 1991, when his term of office was up, Alexander accepted a post as chancellor of the University of Guelph , where he served an unprecedented five terms. After he was succeeded by Pamela Wallin in 2007, he was named chancellor emeritus.
In 2000, Alexander was appointed chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, an organization dedicated to ending racism and racial discrimination in Canada.
Personal Life
Lincoln Alexander married Yvonne Harrison in 1948. Yvonne was the daughter of Robert Harrison, a railway porter , and Edythe (née Lewis). The Alexanders’ only child, Keith, was born in 1949. After suffering for several years from Alzheimer’s disease, Yvonne passed away in 1999. Many years later, Alexander met Marni Beal. The couple married in 2011.
Lincoln Alexander died in his sleep on 19 October 2012. He was known for his sound judgement, compassion and humanity. Schools were named after him in Hamilton (1989), Ajax (1992) and Mississauga (2000) as well as an expressway in Hamilton, commonly called “the Linc” in reference to Alexander’s nickname (1997).
On 28 November 2013, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario declared 21 January of each year Lincoln Alexander Day, citing Alexander’s life as “an example of service, determination and humility. Always fighting for equal rights for all races in our society, and doing so without malice, he changed attitudes and contributed greatly to the inclusiveness and tolerance of Canada today.” On 21 January 2015, Lincoln Alexander Day was observed across Canada for the first time.
In January 2024, a bust of Alexander, designed by artist Quentin VerCetty, was unveiled at Queen's Park.
Honours and Awards
Lincoln Alexander received honorary degrees from six Canadian universities — Toronto (1986), McMaster (1987), Western (1988), York (1990), Royal Military College (1991) and Queen’s (1992) — and was bestowed with several awards, including:
- Cultural Achievement Award, Caribana Cultural Committee (1984)
- Member of the Order of Ontario (1992)
- Companion of the Order of Canada (1992)
- Canadian Forces Decoration (1994)
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (1997)
- Lifetime Achievement, Harry Jerome Awards (2001)
- Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
- Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
Further Reading
Lincoln Alexander, Go to School, You're a Little Black Boy: The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander: A Memoir (2006)
External Links
Lincoln Alexander dies at 90 An obituary for Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, the 24th lieutenant governor of Ontario. From thestar.com.
The Honourable Lincoln Alexander Watch a 2003 interview with Lincoln Alexander about his exemplary public service and ongoing social problems confronting the Black community in Canada. From the TVO website.
Lincoln Alexander, Canada's 1st black MP, dies A CBC News article about the passing of Lincoln Alexander, Ontario’s lieutenant governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991 and was the first black member of Parliament.
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LINCOLN ALEXANDER
The oldest son of Caribbean immigrants, Lincoln Alexander began his education at McMaster University in 1949, followed by a degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1953. In 1965, he made his first run at politics, running as a Conservative MP for Hamilton West, but was defeated by less than 2,500 votes. In 1968, he won the seat, becoming the first Black Canadian to have a seat in the House of Commons. He served for 12 years and in 1979 was appointed Minister of Labour, making him the first Black Canadian to serve in Cabinet. In 1985, Alexander became the lieutenant-governor of Ontario— the first Black Canadian to serve in a viceregal position. He used his position in politics to fight prejudice and racism until the day he passed in 2012, and in the following year, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario declared January 21 as Lincoln Alexander Day.
Black History Month
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Profile: Lincoln Alexander
In 1945, Cpl. Lincoln Alexander was refused service at a Vancouver bar because he was black.
Forty years later, the son of West Indies immigrants was appointed Ontario’s 24th lieutenant-governor, the first black Canadian to be appointed to a viceregal position in Canada.
Born in Toronto in 1922, Alexander accomplished several firsts for Canada’s black community.
During WWII, he was one of the few blacks who were allowed to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as a wireless radio operator. In 1939, the federal government had approved enlistment policies for the RCAF that accepted only recruits of “pure European descent.”
After the war, Alexander studied at Hamilton’s McMaster University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, followed by a degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1953. In 1965 he was appointed a Queen’s Counsel.
That year also marked his entry into federal politics. He ran as the Progressive Conservative Party candidate in the riding of Hamilton West, but was defeated.
But three years later, in June of 1968, he won the seat, becoming the first black Canadian to sit in the House of Commons.
Alexander was re-elected four times, serving a total of 12 years. In 1979, he was appointed minister of labour in the short-lived government of then Prime Minister Joe Clark .
In 1980, he resigned his seat in the House of Commons and was appointed chairman of the Ontario Workers’ Compensation Board, where he worked for the five years.
On 20 September 1985, Lincoln Alexander was sworn in as Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor, the first member of a visible minority to serve as the Queen’s representative in Canada.
After ending his term in office in 1991, he accepted a position as Chancellor of the University of Guelph.
Alexander was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada and to the Order of Ontario in 1992, and in June 2006, he was named the “Greatest Hamiltonian of All Time.”
He died on October 19, 2012 at age 90. In December 2014, the federal government declared January 21 to be Lincoln Alexander Day.
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The Honourable Lincoln Alexander (1922 – 2012)
Lincoln Alexander was a leading figure in the fight for racial equity in Canada. In provincial, federal, public and private roles, he consistently advocated for the equal treatment of black Canadians.
In the Air Force
“and I said, ‘you go down and tell them the next time I walk into that place, as a corporal, wearing the uniform of an Air Force person, that they serve me.’” In the Air Force Lincoln Alexander served as a wireless operator in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. While stationed in Vancouver, Alexander was refused service at a bar because of his race. When he reported the incident to a superior officer, and the officer refused to take action, Alexander quit the Air Force, leaving in 1945 with an honourable discharge. “at that time they didn’t know how to deal with race relations of this sort of thing, they just turned a blind eye to it.”
At Osgoode Hall
“I don’t know what ever made me stand up and ask him that in a class of 200 people. . . . But I will tell you one thing, that day made me a man.”
As a law student in 1953, Lincoln Alexander once told the Dean that he was using inappropriate language in a lecture. This comment divided the class between those who thought Alexander was right, and those who thought the Dean could use whatever language he liked.
As Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Board
“I remember how that happened. . . .somebody called me and said, ‘Bill Davis wants to talk to you.’ “I said [to the Premier], ‘do you think this is going to give you the black vote around here, the vote of the visible minority. . . ?’ I will never forget his look; he was extremely angry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
In 1980, Premier Bill Davis asked Lincoln Alexander to become Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Board. Alexander misinterpreted his request. Alexander called the role “a hell of a job.”
Becoming Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
“Mulroney ha[d] the guts to say, ‘well, I will make Linc the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, I will offer him the job.’”
In 1985, on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Governor General Jeanne Sauvé appointed Alexander as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. He became the first black person to serve in a vice regal position in Canada.
On becoming Chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation
“[The General] said, ‘. . . you have got a hell of a job because [racism] is all over the place.’ And he is right. But because it is all over the place doesn’t give you the right to sit back and say, ‘well, we can’t try to eradicate it, lessen it.’ I think we have to be in the forefront, and let these people know that it is evil, it is terrible.”
In 2000, Alexander was named Chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, where he remained an active spokesperson for race relations and veterans' issues.
On his Life
“All I try to do, is to do a job and to do it well.”
Lincoln M. Alexander: The Time Has Come to Celebrate
This video is the Toronto version of a documentary produced by Willrich Digital Television (WDTV) in honour of Lincoln M. Alexander. It features interviews with politicians, public figures and other individuals who knew Alexander, an interview with Lincoln Alexander himself, and footage of Alexander in attendance at various events.
The video is part of the Archives of Ontario’s Willrich Digital Television fonds, which also includes raw footage, along with photographs, scripts, and other records created in the course of making the documentary.
Lincoln M. Alexander: The Time Has Come to Celebrate (2002) F 4580-0-0-18, Archives of Ontario
Please note that the audio track has been muted from 15:00 - 15:42 because of copyright related to music included in the original video. The muted narration can be viewed as subtitles.
This archival video does not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Ontario today.
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Lincoln Alexander, Canadian Trailblazer, Dies at 90
By Douglas Martin
- Oct. 22, 2012
Lincoln Alexander, the son of a hotel maid and railway porter who became Canada’s first black member of Parliament and first black cabinet minister, died on Friday in Hamilton, Ontario. He was 90.
David C. Onley, the lieutenant governor of Ontario, announced the death.
Mr. Alexander was also Canada’s first black lieutenant governor, but when he was elected to the House of Commons in 1968, he said he had tired of being called “the first Negro” anything. He sought to speak for all victims of injustice, he said. Blacks make up 2.5 percent of Canada’s population.
With his election to Parliament, he was one of the few urban members of the Progressive Conservative Party to buck the landside vote for Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals that year. In the Commons he became a leader in issues like immigration overhaul and urban renewal.
When the Conservatives gained power in 1979, he was named labor minister and promoted literacy education to enhance job preparation.
Mr. Alexander had a strong personality, bragging that nobody could beat him at “working a room” and roaring in Parliament that Liberals had “bamboozled” the public.
“I’ve never really been in awe of anyone,” he once said. “When you’re 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds and good lookin’, you know, you’re not in awe of too many people.”
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander was born in Toronto on Jan. 21, 1922. His parents had come from the Caribbean. He was the only black in his classrooms through high school, except during the two years he lived in the Bronx, from age 15 to age 17. His mother had taken him and his brother there in a time of marital discord, but she sent him back to his father in Toronto when Lincoln began hanging out on New York streets and carrying a switchblade.
After working as a machinist and being a wireless operator for the Royal Canadian Air Force, he studied history and economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, graduating in 1949. He earned a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. He was a partner in one of Canada’s first interracial law firms before winning election to Parliament.
After five terms, Mr. Alexander became chairman of Ontario’s workmen’s compensation board, Ontario’s lieutenant governor, a largely ceremonial post, and chancellor of the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Mr. Alexander’s wife of 51 years, the former Yvonne Harrison, died in 1999. In 2011 he married Marni Beale, who survives him. A son, Keith, and two granddaughters are also survivors.
Among the places named for Mr. Alexander is the Lincoln Alexander Parkway in Hamilton, although he never learned to drive and feared traffic. He always sat “in the back, real low,” he said, “so I can’t see what’s going on.”
An obituary on Tuesday about Lincoln Alexander, the first black member of Canada’s Parliament and the country’s first black cabinet minister, referred incorrectly to Osgoode Hall Law School, from which he earned a law degree. Although it is now part of York University, it was not affiliated with York or any other university when Mr. Alexander was a student there.
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Colonel the Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander
24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario September 20, 1985 to December 11, 1991
When Lincoln Alexander entered the Lieutenant Governor’s Suite for the first time in 1985, he might have paused for just a moment. He was, after all, about to enter not just a new and imposing office, but also an important phase of his own life—and in Ontario’s history.
He was a man accustomed to breaking new ground: he became the first black person installed as the Queen’s representative in Ontario. Born in 1922 in Toronto, he was the son of West Indian immigrants—his father a railway porter and his mother a maid. Alexander served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. In 1948 he married Yvonne Harrison, who remained a pillar of strength for her extraordinary husband until her death in 1999.
Alexander was educated at McMaster University, and later went on to study law at Osgoode Hall. Elected as an MP for Hamilton West in 1968, he was Canada’s first black person elected to the House of Commons. He remained there for 12 years. He made history again in his final year in Parliament, when he became Canada’s first black cabinet minister, having been appointed Minister of Labour.
As Lieutenant Governor—a post he held for more than six years—Alexander continued his pioneering ways. The first person of colour to be named to Ontario’s viceregal role, he focused on youth and education as a key part of his mandate. An awards program for young people who demonstrate leadership in combating discrimination and racism within their school or community was established in his name.
Writing in the Financial Post at the time of Alexander’s appointment, journalist Peter Worthington said, “He can do more for the mixture of people that is modern Ontario than any legislation can. This Canadian-born son of a railway porter has been his own man during the first 63 years of his life. Lincoln Alexander is the Jackie Robinson of Canadian politics. It’s a proud moment for both him and Canada.”
Alexander was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1992. Four years later in 1996, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Alexander chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. Numerous awards and schools have been named in his honour.
An inspiration and outstanding role model, Alexander was a human rights visionary whose impact, in word and deed, will continue to echo throughout Ontario and Canada for generations to come. He died in 2012.
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Lieutenant-Governor Lincoln Alexander was one of the first Black Canadians to serve in RCAF
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News Article / February 11, 2020
Click on the photograph under “Image Gallery”T to see more photos.
February is Black History Month throughout Canada. To mark the month, the RCAF is publishing articles about Black Canadians who, during or after their career in the RCAF, have achieved great things for Canada.
Here is the story of Lincoln Alexander.
By Joanna Calder
“The air force experience taught me the value of self-respect, discipline, and confidence, and those are elements that have served me well throughout my life. They apply to all areas, whether the air force, the law, or politics,” said Lincoln Alexander in his 2006 memoir Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy.
Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first Black person elected to the House of Commons, first Black federal cabinet minister, and first Black person to serve as lieutenant governor of Ontario, died October 19, 2012, at the age of 90.
He was born in Toronto, Ontario, on January 21, 1922. His father, Lincoln MacCauley Alexander Sr., was from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and his mother, Mae Rose Royale, was from Jamaica. Job options for Blacks were limited in those days so his father, who was a carpenter, worked as a railway porter; his mother worked as a maid. Mr. Alexander’s first job was in a laundry in Harlem, New York, where his mother had moved after she left her husband in the 1930s.
In 1942, Mr. Alexander joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. “None of the three services – army, navy and air force – were interested in having Blacks,” he said. “I opted for the air force. Besides, I thought I looked best in their uniform.”
In fact, 13 Black-Canadians were able to enlist between 1936 and the lifting of the colour barrier on March 31, 1942. Major Mathias Joost, of National Defence’s Directorate of History and Heritage, has been able to identify only 59 Black Canadians who served in the RCAF during the Second World War; one of those was a woman.
Mr. Alexander had poor eyesight and thus was not deployed overseas. He trained as a wireless operator in places such as Guelph, Ontario, and Lachine, Quebec. He then served at Number Seven Air Observer School, in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, which was a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) establishment. He was discharged at the end of the war, with the rank of corporal.
“I have a special bond with the people who serve in the Canadian Forces and for those I served with during the war,” he said. “It troubles me deeply to hear the debates that arise annually over whether Remembrance Day is still relevant, or to hear people disparage what our soldiers have done for us. It’s incredibly naïve… We live in a country rich in freedom and democracy, and it is important that we pause annually to recognize those people who have sacrificed so that we can enjoy such privileges.”
Mr. Alexander’s connections with the Air Force continued in his later years. He served as honorary colonel of 2 Tactical Aviation Wing (later 2 Air Wing) from November 1985 to December 1996. A Royal Air Cadet squadron – 876 Lincoln Alexander Squadron, in Scarborough, Ontario – is named in his honour and he was an honorary director of the Air Cadet League of Canada.
Mr. Alexander was educated at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and later studied law at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. Elected as a Member of Parliament for Hamilton West in 1968, he was Canada’s first Black person elected to the House of Commons, where he served for 12 years.
He made history again in his final year in Parliament when he was appointed Minister of Labour, and thus Canada’s first Black cabinet minister.
In 1985, Lincoln Alexander was appointed Ontario’s 24th lieutenant governor, the first member of a visible minority to hold this post anywhere in Canada.
During his more than six years as lieutenant governor, he focused on youth and education; an awards program for young people who demonstrate leadership in combatting discrimination and racism within their schools or communities was established in his name.
He then accepted a position as chancellor of the University of Guelph. In 1996, he was chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and was also made honorary commissioner for the Ontario celebrations of the International Year of Older Persons.
He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada, and to the Order of Ontario, in 1992, and in June 2006, he was named the “Greatest Hamiltonian of All Time.”
“Mr. Alexander will always be remembered for breaking down racial barriers in Canadian politics, and his concern for social justice, his compassion and his humanity were evident and prominent throughout his life,” said then-Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay in a statement following Mr. Alexander’s death. “He left an indelible imprint on Canada and the Canadian political system.
“His enormous heart and compassion, leadership and love of life matched his physical size. He was a role model for all and will be missed by all who knew him.”
A state funeral was held for Lieutenant-Governor Alexander on October 26, 2012, in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. He lay in state at the Ontario Legislature in the lobby of the main legislative building until the evening of October 22, and then lay in repose at Hamilton City Hall until Thursday, October 25.
All Mr. Alexander’s quotations are from "Go to School, You're a Little Black Boy: The Honorable Lincoln M. Alexander: A Memoir," published in 2006 by Dundurn Press.
With files from the office of the premier of Ontario’s website.
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TIMELINE: The life of Lincoln Alexander
By News Staff
Posted October 26, 2012 5:57 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first black MP and former Ontario lieutenant governor — known to all as “Linc” — died at the age of 90 on Oct. 19.
Alexander served as Ontario’s lieutenant governor from 1985 to 1991 among his many accomplishments.
He was honoured with a state funeral on Friday afternoon at Hamilton Place.
The Life of Linc
1922: Lincoln MacCauley Alexander born on Jan. 21 in Toronto.
1942-1945: Wireless operator with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.
1948: Marries Yvonne Harrison.
1949 : Son, Keith, is born.
1949: Graduates from McMaster University with BA.
1953: Graduates from Osgoode Hall Law School; called to the bar.
1963-79: Partner in Toronto law firm. 1965 : Runs unsuccessfully as a Conservative in the federal riding of Hamilton West.
1968: Elected Conservative MP for Hamilton West, re-elected three times — 1972, 1979 and 1980; Becomes first black MP in Canada.
1979-80: Appointed Minister of Labour under Prime Minister Joe Clark; Becomes first black cabinet minister in Canada.
1980: Retires from politics; serves as chairman of the Ontario Workman’s Compensation Board.
1985-91: Appointed Ontario’s 24th lieutenant governor.
1991-07: Appointed chancellor of the University of Guelph.
1992: Appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada and to the Order of Ontario.
1996-03: Appointed chairman, Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
1999: First wife Yvonne dies.
2006: Publishes Go To School, You’re A Little Black Boy .
2011: Marries Marni Beal, a woman nearly 30 years his junior.
2012: Suffers aortic embolism; undergoes emergency surgery.
Oct. 19 2012: Dies at age 90.
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(1922–2012). The first black member of Canada ’s Parliament was Canadian politician and lawyer Lincoln Alexander. Appointed minister of labor in 1979, he was also the country’s first black cabinet member. Alexander became the first black person to hold a viceregal office in Canada when he was installed as the 24th lieutenant governor of Ontario in 1985. He served in that role until 1991.
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander was born on January 21, 1922, in Toronto , Canada. His parents had immigrated to Canada from the West Indies. Alexander served as a radio operator in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II . In 1949 he received a bachelor’s degree from McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario. After graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto in 1953, Alexander practiced criminal law in Hamilton. In 1965 he was given the honorary title of queen’s counsel by the Ontario government. His law partners helped engender in him an interest in politics that led to his running for Parliament.
Alexander began his career in public office in 1968. In the face of the Liberal Party’s sweep of that year’s general election, he became the only member of the Progressive Conservative Party to be elected from an Ontario urban center. As member of Parliament for Hamilton West, Alexander earned a reputation for honesty and directness. In the House of Commons he served his party as spokesperson on such subjects as housing, labor, immigration, and welfare. Alexander was reelected to the House of Commons four times. He was also designated observer to the United Nations for Canada in 1976 and 1978. When the Conservatives formed a government after the 1979 general election, Prime Minister Joe Clark appointed Alexander minister of labor in his short-lived cabinet. In 1980 Alexander resigned his parliamentary seat to become chair of the Ontario Workers’ Compensation Board.
Alexander became lieutenant governor of Ontario, a largely ceremonial position, on September 20, 1985. After he left the viceregal office in 1991, he served five terms as chancellor of the University of Guelph, Ontario, retiring in 2007. In 2006 Alexander published his autobiography, Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy . He died on October 19, 2012, in Hamilton .
Alexander received many honors in his lifetime and after, including having an expressway, schools, and other buildings named for him. He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1992 and a Knight of Justice of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1994. In 2013 Ontario’s legislature officially designated every January 21—Alexander’s date of birth—as Lincoln Alexander Day. The following year the Canadian Parliament made Lincoln Alexander Day an annual observance across Canada.
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Lincoln maccauley alexander (1922-2012).
Lincoln Alexander, prominent attorney and politician , was born on January 21, 1922 in Toronto, Ontario , the son of West Indian immigrants. His mother was a maid, and his father a carpenter by training. In Canada , however, he had to work as a railway porter, which in those days was one of the few jobs available to a man of colour.
In 1942 Alexander joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served in Europe during World War II . Following the war, he attended McMaster University in Hamilton, receiving a degree in History and Political Economics in 1949. Continuing his education, he graduated in 1953 with a law degree from Osgood Hall Law School in Toronto. Initially, employment proved difficult when many established law firms turned him away. In 1954 Alexander joined the first interracial law firm in Canada, Miller, Tokiwa and Isaacs in Hamilton. In 1962 he became a partner in the firm and three years later was appointed Queen’s Counsel.
Alexander began his political career in 1968, when he was elected Canada’s first black Member of Parliament. He represented Hamilton West in the national assembly. As the first black person in Parliament, Alexander attracted much publicity. While he did not concentrate on civil rights issues, Alexander nonetheless became nationally admired, particularly by Canadian blacks. While in Parliament, Lincoln Alexander focused on immigration reform, relief for Biafra in the Nigerian Civil War , and urban renewal. He also supported the Official Languages Bill.
Alexander was re-elected in four federal elections, and served in the House of Commons for nearly twelve years. In 1979 when the newly elected Progressive Conservative government gained power, Alexander was appointed Minister of Labour and thus the first black cabinet minister in Canada’s history. Alexander held the post for nine months until the Progressive Conservatives were swept from power in the winter of 1980. Later that same year Alexander resigned his Commons seat to accept an appointment from Prime Minister Joe Clark as Chairman of the Workman’s Compensation Board of Ontario.
In 1985, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Alexander was appointed Ontario’s 24th Lieutenant Governor. He became the first member of a visible minority group to serve in that vice-regal office in any province in Canada. Official duties of that office include summoning and dissolving Ontario’s legislature, reading the Speech from the Throne at the opening of each legislative session, and giving assent to bills passed by the legislature.
Alexander has been the recipient of many awards and honours which include being appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada. In 1992 he was appointed to the Order of Ontario and was inducted into Hamilton’s Gallery of Distinction. Alexander published his memoirs in 2006 when he was 84 years old. Lincoln MacCauley Alexander died at his home in Hamilton, Ontario on October 19, 2012. He was 90.
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Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy (Toronto: Dundurn, 2006); Robin W. Winks, The Blacks in Canada (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1997); http://www.ParliamentofCanada.com .
Political trailblazer Lincoln Alexander would have turned 100 Friday and is still touching hearts
Hamilton historian remembers canada's 1st black mp as an inspiring leader — and good singer.
Social Sharing
Lincoln Alexander is remembered as Canada's first Black member of Parliament and federal cabinet minister, and Ontario's first Black lieutenant-governor.
But to those whose lives he touched, Alexander, who would have turned 100 Friday, he's much more.
Evelyn Auchinvole remembers how Alexander helped Hamilton's first Black church with its first constitution, getting it a charitable tax number, and his singing.
"I grew up in Stewart Memorial Church with him singing in the church choir carrying the bass notes with his big, deep voice," said Auchinvole, a church historian and archivist.
"As he progressed into public life, we felt that same, I'll say, lifting up by association."
Alexander was born Jan. 21, 1922, in Toronto, but spent much of his life in Hamilton. He represented Hamilton West in the House of Commons as a Conservative MP for 12 years beginning in 1968. He was appointed minister of labour in 1979, and in 1985 was sworn in as Ontario's lieutenant-governor and served in the role until 1991.
Although he died Oct. 12, 2012, in Hamilton, he's still touching lives.
"In my travels across the province, I am often stopped by individuals who recall vividly what it was like as a young person to have Lincoln Alexander pause to shake their hands, look them in the eye, and celebrate their potential," Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Ontario's current lieutenant-governor, said in a statement Thursday.
WATCH | Lincoln Alexander reflects on his first year as an MP:
Lincoln Alexander reflects on his first year as a Member of Parliament
Alexander's parents immigrated to Canada from the West Indies. He moved to Hamilton after serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, and attended McMaster University in Hamilton and Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto.
- Lincoln Alexander, parliamentarian and public servant
- Opinion 'It is not your duty to be average': Here is why we celebrate Lincoln Alexander's legacy
During his political career, Auchinvole said, Alexander "brought to the table a diverse voice that had been missing in Canadian politics."
In 1992, Alexander was also appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada and to the Order of Ontario.
He's been honoured in other ways. Several elementary schools, a parkway in Hamilton and a law school in Toronto bear his name. The Ontario government also recognizes Lincoln Alexander Day on Jan. 21.
A role model for Black community
As a Black woman and now as a student at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University, Safia Thompson said she could feel the limitations society places on individuals similar to herself.
"I didn't really understand what it meant to take up space in places like law school or the legal profession, and I always had to search for that prototype, and Lincoln Alexander is exactly that ... he kind of shows us ... being a racialized individual and greatness are not mutually exclusive concepts," Thompson said.
Thompson moderated a virtual Lincoln Alexander Day event that was hosted by the law school Friday and included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alexander's granddaughter, Erika.
"Hearing about Mr. Alexander and the work he did and being the first at many things, occupying roles and being the first person from the Black community, is what inspired me to want to do the same," said Thompson.
"His focus wasn't just on helping the Black community, but his focus was on fighting for racial justice and racial equity for all individuals."
WATCH | Alexander as Canada's first black lieutenant-governor:
Lincoln Alexander, Canada's first black lieutenant-governor
Tania Hernandez attended Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association of Hamilton's (ACCA) event last Sunday commemorating Alexander and Martin Luther King Jr., the U.S. civil rights activist born Jan. 15, 1929, who was assassinated in 1968.
"It was very inspiring and very educational, and it brought the community together," she said about the event honouring the two.
"Both men have been luminaries for civil rights justice and just lovely human beings."
Numerous events are being held Friday to celebrate Alexander's life and legacy.
Hamilton's Cable 14 will air ACCA's event at 5 p.m. ET. There's also the province's annual Lincoln M. Alexander Award ceremony, which honours three youth who have shown strong leadership in eliminating racial discrimination.
The NBA's Toronto Raptors also honoured Alexander, sharing a video celebrating his legacy.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here .
With files from CBC News and CBC Archives
Related Stories
- Ryerson University renaming its law school after Lincoln Alexander
Lincoln Alexander Day: Celebrating A Canadian Icon
- January 21, 2022
- Kelly Ralston
- Canadian Icons , Celebrations , Lincoln Alexander Day , National Days
Today we celebrate #LincolnAlexanderDay on what would have been his 100th birthday.
Lincoln Alexander, an Honourary Patron of Heritage Mississauga, left an indelible mark on the history, heritage, and landscape of Mississauga and the country.
Alexander has long been considered a trailblazer and was the first Black Canadian member of Parliament (1968), Cabinet minister (1979) and Lieutenant-Governor (Ontario, 1985).
Educational institutions have adopted his name including Lincoln M Alexander Secondary School in Mississauga and Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University.
Alexander was a dedicated human rights advocate and in 2000 was appointed chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, an organization dedicated to ending racism and racial discrimination in Canada.
In his speech before the House of Commons as MP of Hamilton West on September 20, 1968, he stated:
He was subsequently re-elected four times, serving a total of 12 years.
Born on January 21, 1922 in Toronto, Lincoln Alexander’s story reflects the fortitude and determination shown by so many immigrant parents that have come to Canada and who strive to build a life of opportunity for their families and contribute to making this country a better place.
Lincoln Alexander has left an inspiring legacy that instills a sense of pride in all Canadians.
Kelly Ralston Author
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9 things you might not know about ‘Linc’
BY Lisa Cimini
January 19, 2015
Originally published January 19, 2015.
Former lieutenant governor and McMaster alumnus Lincoln Alexander will be celebrated across the country this week.
Parliament has declared January 21 – his birthday – Lincoln Alexander Day in honour of Canada’s first black member of parliament, who died in 2012 at the age of 90.
Get to know more about one of Canada’s greatest citizens below:
1. Alexander served as a corporal in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. “None of the three services – army, navy and air force – were interested in having blacks,” Linc wrote in his memoir Go to school, you’re a little black boy . “I opted for the air force. Besides, I thought I looked best in their uniform.”
2. An alumnus of McMaster University, Alexander studied history and political economy. He earned his BA in 1949 and then went on to earn his law degree from the Osgoode Hall in 1953.
3. Alexander lost his first election in 1965. Three years last he was elected as the Conservative MP for Hamilton West, making him Canada’s first black MP. He served a total of 12 years in Parliament.
4. As Ontario’s 24 th lieutenant governor – the Queen’s representative – Alexander was the first black Canadian to be appointed to a vice-regal position in Canada
5. In 2006 he was named the ‘Greatest Hamiltonian of All Time’. “It’s the greatest city in the world,” he once said. “It’s all about the people. I have great faith in them. They are a strong and resilient people.”
6. Alexander has received dozens of honors including the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario and the National Order of the Lion from Senegal. He has also received six honorary degrees, including one from McMaster in 1987.
7. Linc was a big advocate of education. He served as chancellor of the University of Guelph for five terms and has four schools named in his honour, which can be found in Hamilton, Ajax, Markham and Mississauga.
8. When Hamilton’s municipal expressway opened in 1997, it was named the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway – despite the fact that Linc never learned to drive and was afraid of cars.
9. Linc passed away on October 19, 2012, at 90 years of age. His body lay in state at Queen’s Park before being transported to Hamilton for a state funeral.
Happy Lincoln Alexander Day! The former lieutenant governor of Ontario and Canada’s first black MP graduated from McMaster in 1949, with a BA in history and political economy. Upon his graduation the Marmor notes, “His easy going personality has won him many friends and his popularity will contribute to his success at Osgoode Hall next year.” A photo posted by McMaster University (@mcmasteru) on Jan 21, 2015 at 8:47am PST
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Alexander was born on January 21, 1922, in a row house on Draper Street [2] near Front Street and Spadina Avenue in Toronto, Ontario. [3] He was the eldest son of Mae Rose (née Royale), who immigrated from Jamaica, and Lincoln McCauley Alexander Sr., a carpenter by trade [4] who worked as a porter on the Canadian Pacific Railway, who had come to Canada from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. [5]
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Lincoln Alexander (born January 21, 1922, Toronto, Ontario, Canada—died October 19, 2012, Hamilton, Ontario) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who was the first Black member of the Canadian Parliament, serving in the House of Commons (1968-80); the first Black cabinet member, as minister of ...
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, CC, OOnt, QC, lieutenant-governor of Ontario 1985-91, member of Parliament 1968-80, lawyer, public servant (born 21 January 1922 in Toronto, ON; died 19 October 2012 in Hamilton, ON). Alexander was the first Black Canadian member of Parliament (1968), Cabinet minister (1979) and lieutenant-governor (Ontario, 1985).
The oldest son of Caribbean immigrants, Lincoln Alexander began his education at McMaster University in 1949, followed by a degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1953. In 1965, he made his first run at politics, running as a Conservative MP for Hamilton West, but was defeated by less than 2,500 votes. In 1968, he won the seat, becoming the ...
Profile: Lincoln Alexander. In 1945, Cpl. Lincoln Alexander was refused service at a Vancouver bar because he was black. Forty years later, the son of West Indies immigrants was appointed Ontario ...
Lincoln Alexander inspects an honour guard prior to the speech from the throne at Queen's Park, April 22, 1986. (Bill Becker/CP) 1968 was a pivotal year in the fight for civil rights in the United States. The world was rocked with the news when the civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated.
The Honourable Lincoln Alexander (1922 - 2012) Lincoln Alexander was a leading figure in the fight for racial equity in Canada. In provincial, federal, public and private roles, he consistently advocated for the equal treatment of black Canadians. These are snapshots - moments from his life as a pioneer - taken from an interview conducted ...
Lincoln Alexander, the son of a hotel maid and railway porter who became Canada's first black member of Parliament and first black cabinet minister, died on Friday in Hamilton, Ontario. He was ...
Canadians, since 2015, have had January 21 on our calendar to remember the man everyone knew simply as "Linc.". Alexander made a name for himself in politics under highly unusual conditions. In 1968, when much of Canada was caught up in the love affair that was Trudeaumania (leading to a majority government for the current prime minister ...
24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. September 20, 1985 to December 11, 1991. When Lincoln Alexander entered the Lieutenant Governor's Suite for the first time in 1985, he might have paused for just a moment. He was, after all, about to enter not just a new and imposing office, but also an important phase of his own life—and in Ontario's ...
In 1985, Lincoln Alexander was appointed Ontario's 24th lieutenant governor, the first member of a visible minority to hold this post anywhere in Canada. During his more than six years as lieutenant governor, he focused on youth and education; an awards program for young people who demonstrate leadership in combatting discrimination and ...
Lincoln Alexander, Canada's first black MP and former Ontario lieutenant governor — known to all as "Linc" — died at the age of 90 on Oct. 19. Alexander served as Ontario's lieutenant governor from 1985 to 1991 among his many accomplishments. He was honoured with a state funeral on Friday afternoon at Hamilton Place. The Life of Linc.
Lincoln Alexander. (1922-2012). The first black member of Canada 's Parliament was Canadian politician and lawyer Lincoln Alexander. Appointed minister of labor in 1979, he was also the country's first black cabinet member. Alexander became the first black person to hold a viceregal office in Canada when he was installed as the 24th ...
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, August 26, 2005. Courtesy Lincoln Alexander Centre (CC0 1.0) Lincoln Alexander, prominent attorney and politician, was born on January 21, 1922 in Toronto, Ontario, the son of West Indian immigrants. His mother was a maid, and his father a carpenter by training. In Canada, however, he had to work as a railway porter ...
Lincoln Alexander is remembered as Canada's first Black member of Parliament and federal cabinet minister, and Ontario's first Black lieutenant-governor. To those whose lives he touched, Alexander ...
Lincoln Alexander, seen in November 2002, at his home with family pictures. Linc was a shattered man after he lost his wife of 50 years, Yvonne, in 1999, to Alzheimer's.
Lincoln Alexander, an Honourary Patron of Heritage Mississauga, left an indelible mark on the history, heritage, and landscape of Mississauga and the country. Alexander has long been considered a trailblazer and was the first Black Canadian member of Parliament (1968), Cabinet minister (1979) and Lieutenant-Governor (Ontario, 1985).
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander (January 21, 1922 - October 19, 2012) was a Canadian politician and statesman. Alexander served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the federal Minister of Labour, and later as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, from 1985 to 1991.
A tribute to Lincoln Alexander on his 100th birthday. Among his many achievements, Alexander was our first Black member of Parliament. He will be most remembered for his genuine love for Canadians ...
Former lieutenant governor and McMaster alumnus Lincoln Alexander will be celebrated across the country this week. Parliament has declared January 21 - his birthday - Lincoln Alexander Day in honour of Canada's first black member of parliament, who died in 2012 at the age of 90. Get to know more about one of Canada's greatest citizens ...
Alexander Lincoln (born 21 January 1994) is a British actor best known for his portrayals of Jamie Tate in Emmerdale from 2019 to 2021 and Mark Newton in the 2022 romantic drama film In from the Side. [1] [2] Career.
Alexander was born on January 21, 1922, in a row house on Draper Street near Front Street and Spadina Avenue in Toronto, Ontario. He was the eldest son of Mae Rose (née Royale), who immigrated from Jamaica, and Lincoln McCauley Alexander Sr., a carpenter by trade who worked as a porter on the Canadian Pacific Railway, who had come to Canada ...
Lincoln Alexander. Self: A Linc in Time. Lincoln Alexander served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. He was the first Black Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons in 1968. He was named Federal Minister of Labour in 1979. In 1985 he was named as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, a position he held until 1991. He currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Guelph,...