- This morning in his sleep at the age of 90, Lincoln Alexander passed away.
- As some of you will remember, Linc was Canada's first black MP, first black cabinet minister and first black lieutenant governor.
- Born in a poor first generation Canadian black family in Toronto, Mr. Alexander served three years as a corporal in the RCAF in WWII and then took advantage of the veterans' education grant program to earn his BA degree.
- He moved to Hamilton from Toronto mainly to persue Yvonne, the love of his life, whom he wound up marrying and spent over fifty happy years with before she died in 1999.
- In 1949, Linc as everyone called him applied for a job with Stelco in sales and was told by the personnel creep that they would not hire him because they believed their customers would not want to deal with a black man.
- This racist creep unwittingly gave Linc a break because this was the experience that fueled his desire to go to law school and he graduated from Osgood Hall in the mid fifties and practised general law in his own firm for almost 15 years before entering politics.
- In the late fifties Linc took a greater interest in politics as a consequence of his acquaintenship and then friendship with prime minister John Diefenbaker.
- Dief urged and encouraged Linc to run for a seat in Hamilton in the 1965 election although Alexander told The Chief that it was an uphill climb because Hamilton was mostly an NDP and Liberal town and less than 2% of the population at that time were blacks and at 6'3" and 220 pounds a black guy banging on a consitituent's door would scare more than a few of them to call the police instead of opening the door.
- In the event, Dief could be very persuasive and got Linc to run and he lost the 1965 election in one of the closest fights of all (then) 265 seats. Never given to giving up, Linc tried again in 1968 and he won despite the Trudeaumania in that election campaign.
- Alexander went on to win again in 1972, 74 and 79 before resigning in 1980 and was the first black MP (allegedly, he was the one whom Trudeau told to "fuddle duddle" in the House) and the first black minister (Minister of Labour in Clark's brief cabinet).
- In 1980, Linc decided to shift gears and accept the position as the Chair of The Workers Compensation Board of Ontario and he oversaw important changes there during his five year appointment.
- In 1985 he accepted a term as Ontario's lieutenant governor, the first black Canadian to hold this appointment as the Queen's representative in Ontario and he was a very active and visible and communicative Lt. Gov. and an inspiration to not only blacks but to non-whites generally and to poor kids of all colours in terms of what future opportunities they could aspire to as long as they had ability and worked hard.
- In the past twenty years, Linc has continued to be an active contributor to Hamilton, Ontario and Canada, serving on several boards and commissions and being the Chancellor of Guelph University and being the honorary chair of a number of institutions including the Hamilton-Wentworth Police Services Board.
- Last year, 12 lonely years after the death of his beloved Yvonne, Linc found happiness at the age of 89 and married an attractive blonde woman in her 60s who was not a gold digger but his financial equal and who was a good wife and a good care giver to Alexander in the last most difficult year of his life.
- If you drive near Hamliton, you'll probably drive on The Lincoln Alexander Parkway. He used to laugh about the irony of this because he never drove a car nor learned to drive in his entire long life.
- I met Lincoln Alexander a few times during my Ottawa days in the 1970s and immediately found him to be a likable and impressive person. What he accomplished in his life given the strikes he had against him are a testament to the calibre of this great Canadian trailblazer. They are also to some degree a testament to the greatness of Canada in being the most successful and peaceful multi-ethnic nation in the world.
- RIP, Linc, you will not be forgotten.
- As some of you will remember, Linc was Canada's first black MP, first black cabinet minister and first black lieutenant governor.
- Born in a poor first generation Canadian black family in Toronto, Mr. Alexander served three years as a corporal in the RCAF in WWII and then took advantage of the veterans' education grant program to earn his BA degree.
- He moved to Hamilton from Toronto mainly to persue Yvonne, the love of his life, whom he wound up marrying and spent over fifty happy years with before she died in 1999.
- In 1949, Linc as everyone called him applied for a job with Stelco in sales and was told by the personnel creep that they would not hire him because they believed their customers would not want to deal with a black man.
- This racist creep unwittingly gave Linc a break because this was the experience that fueled his desire to go to law school and he graduated from Osgood Hall in the mid fifties and practised general law in his own firm for almost 15 years before entering politics.
- In the late fifties Linc took a greater interest in politics as a consequence of his acquaintenship and then friendship with prime minister John Diefenbaker.
- Dief urged and encouraged Linc to run for a seat in Hamilton in the 1965 election although Alexander told The Chief that it was an uphill climb because Hamilton was mostly an NDP and Liberal town and less than 2% of the population at that time were blacks and at 6'3" and 220 pounds a black guy banging on a consitituent's door would scare more than a few of them to call the police instead of opening the door.
- In the event, Dief could be very persuasive and got Linc to run and he lost the 1965 election in one of the closest fights of all (then) 265 seats. Never given to giving up, Linc tried again in 1968 and he won despite the Trudeaumania in that election campaign.
- Alexander went on to win again in 1972, 74 and 79 before resigning in 1980 and was the first black MP (allegedly, he was the one whom Trudeau told to "fuddle duddle" in the House) and the first black minister (Minister of Labour in Clark's brief cabinet).
- In 1980, Linc decided to shift gears and accept the position as the Chair of The Workers Compensation Board of Ontario and he oversaw important changes there during his five year appointment.
- In 1985 he accepted a term as Ontario's lieutenant governor, the first black Canadian to hold this appointment as the Queen's representative in Ontario and he was a very active and visible and communicative Lt. Gov. and an inspiration to not only blacks but to non-whites generally and to poor kids of all colours in terms of what future opportunities they could aspire to as long as they had ability and worked hard.
- In the past twenty years, Linc has continued to be an active contributor to Hamilton, Ontario and Canada, serving on several boards and commissions and being the Chancellor of Guelph University and being the honorary chair of a number of institutions including the Hamilton-Wentworth Police Services Board.
- Last year, 12 lonely years after the death of his beloved Yvonne, Linc found happiness at the age of 89 and married an attractive blonde woman in her 60s who was not a gold digger but his financial equal and who was a good wife and a good care giver to Alexander in the last most difficult year of his life.
- If you drive near Hamliton, you'll probably drive on The Lincoln Alexander Parkway. He used to laugh about the irony of this because he never drove a car nor learned to drive in his entire long life.
- I met Lincoln Alexander a few times during my Ottawa days in the 1970s and immediately found him to be a likable and impressive person. What he accomplished in his life given the strikes he had against him are a testament to the calibre of this great Canadian trailblazer. They are also to some degree a testament to the greatness of Canada in being the most successful and peaceful multi-ethnic nation in the world.
- RIP, Linc, you will not be forgotten.
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