Lincoln Alexander
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Lincoln MacCauley Alexander | |
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24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario | |
In office 1985–1991 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Governor General | Jeanne Sauvé |
Preceded by | John Black Aird |
Succeeded by | Henry N. R. Jackman |
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Hamilton West | |
In office June 25, 1968 – May 28, 1980 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Macaluso |
Succeeded by | Stanley Hudecki |
Constituency | Hamilton West |
Personal details | |
Born | Toronto, Ontario | January 21, 1922
Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Occupation | Barrister and solicitor, lawyer |
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, PC CC OOnt CD QC (born January 21, 1922), served as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. Alexander was also a Governor of the Canadian Unity Council.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, to West Indian immigrants, Lincoln Alexander first distinguished himself in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. He graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto in 1953.[1]
In 1968, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Hamilton West representative for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, becoming Canada's first black Member of Parliament. He held the seat for four successive elections.
While in office, he spoke to the press about Trudeau's alleged profanity in the fuddle duddle incident, and was an observer to the United Nations in 1976 and 1978. Under the brief government of Joe Clark in 1979-1980, Alexander served as Minister of Labour. He resigned his seat in 1980 to serve as chairman of the Ontario Worker's Compensation Board.
In 1985, on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Governor General Jeanne Sauvé appointed Lincoln Alexander the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. He became the first black person to serve in a vice-regal position in Canada. (James Douglas, who was of mixed descent, was Governor of Vancouver Island and of British Columbia prior to Canadian Confederation when these were British colonies with no connect to the Canadas.) During his appointment, he focused attention on education and youth issues.
In 1992, Alexander was awarded the Order of Ontario. He also became a Companion of the Order of Canada. From 1991 to 2007, he served as Chancellor of the University of Guelph. His term exceeded that of any of his predecessors, and he assumed the office of Chancellor Emeritus.
In 2000, Alexander was named Chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, where he remains an active spokesman on race relations and veterans' issues. He is currently the Honourary Patron of the Hamilton, Ontario branch of St. John Ambulance, as well as Honourary Chief of the Hamilton Police Service.
In November 2006, his autobiography Go to School, You're a Little Black Boy: The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander: A Memoir was published (ISBN 1-55002-663-1).
Titles, styles, and honours
Honours
- Awards
Canada: Companion of the Order of Canada[2]
Canada: Canadian Forces Decoration
Ontario: Order of Ontario
Ontario: Greatest Hamiltonian (a poll of readers of The Hamilton Spectator in 2006)
Honorific eponyms
- Awards
Ontario: Lincoln M. Alexander Awards[3]
- Roads, highways, and bridges
Ontario: Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway, Hamilton
- Schools
Ontario: Lincoln Alexander Public School, Ajax
Ontario: Lincoln Alexander Public School, Hamilton
Ontario: Lincoln Alexander Public School, Markham
Ontario: Lincoln M. Alexander Secondary School, Mississauga+
Ontario: Alexander Hall, University of Guelph
- Others
Arms
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References
- ^ York University "York University's Osgoode Hall Law School Alumni Association honours three outstanding members of the legal profession". York University. 3 April 1997. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
{{cite web}}
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value (help) - ^ Office of the Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada citation. Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 24 May 2010
- ^ [1]
- ^ Canadian Heraldic Authority (Volume II), Ottawa, 1992
External links
- 1922 births
- Living people
- Black Canadian politicians
- Canadian autobiographers
- Canadian Baptists
- Lawyers in Ontario
- Chancellors of the University of Guelph
- Canadian military personnel of World War II
- Canadian people of Caribbean descent
- Companions of the Order of Canada
- Knights of Justice of the Order of St John
- Recipients of the Canadian Forces Decoration
- Lieutenant Governors of Ontario
- McMaster University alumni
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
- Members of the Order of Ontario
- Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs
- People from Hamilton, Ontario
- People from Old Toronto