Source http://passagestocanada.com/educator-resources/

Lincoln Alexander was a lawyer, member of parliament, cabinet minister and war veteran, but he is perhaps best known as the former lieutenant

governor of Ontario. Alexander was the first person from a visible minority to take on the role, and the first black member of parliament in Canadian

history. Alexander died on Oct. 19, 2012. He was 90.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Anne Cools was the first black person to become a Canadian senator. Born in Barbados, she arrived in Canada as a teenager and studied at McGill University. Pierre Trudeau appointed her to the Senate in 1984. She switched party alliances in 2004, becoming a Conservative senator. Today, she sits as an independent.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Viola Davis Desmond was at the centre of one of Nova Scotia's

most controversial episodes. In 1946, she refused to sit in the

balcony of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N.S. and sat on the floor reserved exclusively for

white people instead. She was arrested and found guilty of not

paying the full tax on a floor-seat ticket. She was jailed and fined.

She died in 1965. In 2010, the government of Nova Scotia

posthumously pardoned Desmond and apologized to her

family

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Josiah Henson was an American slave who escaped

to Canada in 1830. He devoted the rest of his life to helping other former slaves,

particularly in terms of developing farms. He also led a militia unit of black men in

the Upper Canadian Rebellion of 1837.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Rosemary Brown was a Canadian politician who was born in Jamaica. She served as a member of British Columbia's legislative assembly for 14 years and was a candidate for the federal

party's leadership in 1974.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

William Hall was the first black person to receive the Victoria Cross. He was born in Nova Scotia to former slaves who left the United States because of the War of 1812. He became a sailor in his twenties, eventually joining the Royal Navy.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross after securing a British garrison in Lucknow, India, while serving on HMS Shannon. Hall was one of two sailors to survive the attack, but was the only one able to continue to fight. He fought until the garrison was safe.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Senator Donald Oliver has been a successful civil litigator and educator. He was appointed to the Senate in 1990.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Willie O'Ree was the first black player in the National Hockey League. O'Ree made his debut with the Boston Bruins in the 1957-58 season. O'Ree later played in the Western Hockey

League before retiring in 1979.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Portia White was an acclaimed concert singer and performed concerts across Canada, the U.S., and Central and South

America. She performed for the Queen

at Charlottetown's Confederation Centre in 1964.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/

Hon. Jean Augustine was appointed as the first Fairness

Commissioner for Ontario in March 2007.

Ms. Augustine was born in Grenada and came to Canada in

1960. She attended the University of Toronto, where she

earned bachelor of arts and master of education degrees. She

became an elementary school principal in Toronto.

Ms. Augustine was the first African-Canadian woman to be

elected to the House of Commons. She was elected in the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore in 1993 and sat in Parliament until

2006.Source: http://www.fairnesscommissioner.ca/index_en.php?page=about/media_room/commissioners_biography

Source: http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/community-heritage-and-family-history?t=featured&pg=6