Politics
Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first black MP dies at 90
Lincoln Alexander, former Ontario lieutenant governor, Canada’s first black MP and cabinet minister has died at the age of 90.
The man known to all as “Linc” was a “living legend” in his hometown of Hamilton and a man whose life and career were “a series of groundbreaking firsts.
At a time when racism was endemic in Canadian society, Lincoln Alexander broke through barriers that treated visible minorities as second-class citizens, strangers in their own land. His whole life was a rebuke to those who would equate ability with skin color.
In 1968, he became the first black member of Parliament in Canada and was re-elected three times, in 1972, 1979 and 1980. He was appointed as labor minister from 1979 to 1980 under Prime Minister Joe Clark and served in the House of Commons until 1985. He then served as Ontario’s lieutenant governor from 1985 to 1991.
