BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRO-CANADIAN " LINCOLN MaCAULAY ALEXANDER PC CC OOnt CD QC A CANADIAN POLITICIAN AND STATESMAN - A FEDRAL MINISTER OF LABOUR, THE 24th LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF ONTARIO FROM 1985 TO 1991 : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

                                  BLACK                   SOCIAL                 HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, PC CC OOnt CD QC (January 21, 1922 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian politician and statesman who 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. Alexander was also a governor of the Canadian Unity Council.

Alexander was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Mae Rose, who migrated from Jamaica, and Lincoln Alexander, Sr., a porter on the Canadian Pacific Railway who came to Canada from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Alexander went to Earl Grey Public School and Riverdale Collegiate. As a teen Alexander moved to Harlem with his older half-brother Ridley and his mother after she was the victim of a violent altercation with his father. In New York he went to DeWitt Clinton High School, but returned to Canada in 1939. He first distinguished himself in service to Canada in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. After the war Alexander completed his studies at Hamilton Central Collegiate and then to McMaster University in 1946 to study economics and history. Alexander graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto in 1953. He then practiced law in Hamilton with the firms Okuloski & Okuloski; Duncan & Alexander; and Millar, Alexander, Tokiwa & Isaacs.Early life]

Politics]

In 1968, Alexander ran in the Canadian federal election as the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the Hamilton West electoral district. He won, becoming Canada's first black Member of Parliament. He held the seat through four successive elections until stepping down in 1980.

While in office, he spoke to the press about then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's alleged profanity in the fuddle duddle incident and was an observer to the United Nations in 1976 and 1978. In the brief government headed by Joe Clark from 1979 to 1980, Alexander served as Minister of Labour. He resigned his seat in 1980 to serve as chairman of the Ontario Worker's Compensation Board.

Viceregal service]

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 viceregal 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 connection to the Canadas.) During his appointment, he focused attention on education, racism and youth issues.

Later life and death]

BLACK      SOCIAL          HISTORY

In 1992, Alexander was appointed to 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 remained an active spokesman on race relations and veterans' issues. Until the time of his death, he was the Honorary Patron of the Hamilton, Ontario branch of St. John Ambulance, as well as Honorary 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.

Alexander died in his sleep on the morning of October 19, 2012, at the age of 90. The national and provincial flags outside the Ontario Legislative Building were flown at half-mast and tributes were given by various viceroys and politicians. His body lay in state, first inside the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park, followed by Hamilton City Hall. He was survived by his second wife Marni and son Keith from his marriage to his first wife Yvonne Harrison (predeceased in 1999). Also survived by daughter-in-law Joyce and grandchildren Erika and Marissa.

Alexander was accorded a state funeral which was conducted at Hamilton Place and attended by 1,500 people including the Mayor of Hamilton Bob Bratina, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, former Premier David Peterson, Governor General David Johnston, former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former Prime Minister Joe Clark and federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino.