Lincoln Alexander

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The Honourable Lincoln MacCauley Alexander

Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, PC , CC , K.St.J., O.Ont , CD , QC , BA , LL.B (born January 21, 1922, in Toronto, Ontario), served as the 24th Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. Alexander is a Governor of the Canadian Unity Council

Born to West Indian immigrants to Canada, Lincoln Alexander first distinguished himself by serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the second World War. He then became Canada's first black Member of Parliament when he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1968 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, representing the riding of Hamilton West.

Lincoln Alexander held the seat for the next four successive elections. In 1976 and 1978 he served as an observer to the United Nations. 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 Worker's Compensation Board of Ontario.

Lincoln Alexander was appointed by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé, on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, in 1985, the first black person to serve in a vice-regal position in Canada. During his term in office he concentrated on bringing attention to education and youth issues.

After his departure from office in 1991, Alexander was awarded the Order of Ontario, and made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He remains an active spokesman on race relations and veterans' issues, and is the Chancellor of the University of Guelph.

The Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway (known locally as "the Linc"), a freeway through Hamilton, was named in his honour, though Lincoln Alexander has never held a driver's license of his own. There are three schools called Lincoln Alexander Public School, as well as Lincoln M. Alexander Secondary School, all named after him. As well, in 1993 the Government of Ontario created the Lincoln M. Alexander Award to reward young Ontarians who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in the elimination of racial discrimination. More recently, Alexander was recently declared the Greatest Hamiltonian in a reader vote done by The Hamilton Spectator in commerating the 160th anniversary of the town's founding and formation of the newspaper. Alexander won by 300 votes over Effort Trust company founder Arthur Weisz.

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