Lincoln MacCauley Alexander (1922-2012)

Lincoln Alexander was born in Toronto, the son of immigrants from the Caribbean. Because of racism, many forms of employment were not open to Black Canadians. As a result, Alexander’s mother worked as a maid, and his father, who was a skilled carpenter, worked as a sleeping car porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Alexander’s parents separated, and for a few years, he lived in Harlem, New York City, with his mother. It was there that he encountered significant role models among other Black citizens living there. Later in life, he wrote that this experience “…stiffened my resolve to be more than a porter.”

In 1939, Alexander returned to Canada. Although he was too young to enlist in the armed forces early in the Second World War, he worked for a time as a machinist in a factory to serve the war effort. In 1942, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, but his poor eyesight meant he could not serve in combat roles. So, he became a wireless operator with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. He achieved the rank of corporal and received an honourable discharge when the War ended in 1945.

After the War, Alexander earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from McMaster University in 1949, and in 1953, a degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. He eventually established his own law firm in Hamilton. In 1965, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel.

In 1965, Alexander entered politics. He ran for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, as member of Parliament for Hamilton West. Although he was defeated, three years later, in 1968, tried again, and won the seat, making him the first Black Canadian to sit in Canada’s House of Commons – a position he held until 1980.

Alexander’s list of accomplishments is extensive. For example, he was the first Black federal Cabinet Minister (Minister of Labour, 1979 to 1980), the first Black Chair of the Worker’s Compensation Board of Ontario (1980 to 1985), and the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (1985 to 1991). He was the first person to serve five terms as Chancellor of the University of Guelph (1991 to 2007). Alexander was also a governor of the Canadian Unity Council.

Alexander’s memoir, entitled “Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy,” was published in 2006. In it, he writes of a life-changing tour of Africa he and his wife took in 1960:

“The experience was an eye-opener for me … because I began to realize what Black people could do. I saw that … these Africans were men and women of significant talents. … I had come from a White world. Now we were in Africa, and I realized we [Black people] are people of skill and creativity. I was a Black man and I was a somebody. I started standing tall.”

Alexander remains widely respected in Canada, particularly in his home province of Ontario. There are schools named after him in Hamilton (1989), Ajax (1992) and Mississauga (2000). An expressway in Hamilton is known as “the Linc,” a nod to Alexander’s nickname (1997).

In 2013, January 21 of each year was declared Lincoln Alexander Day, named for a man who exemplified “…service, determination and humility [and] … fighting for equal rights for all races.” In 2015, Lincoln Alexander Day, January 21, was observed across Canada for the first time.

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). He received many awards, including: Member and Companion of the Order of Canada (1992), Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (1997), and Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).

(Sources: The Canadian Encyclopedia and Wikipedia)