Today is Lincoln Alexander Day. He was a Canadian lawyer and politician who became the first Black Canadian to be a member of Parliament in the House of Commons, a federal Cabinet Minister, a Chair of the Worker’s Compensation Board of Ontario, and the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991.
He was an alumni of McMaster University in Hamilton, where he studied economics and history from 1946 to 1949; and he was the Chancellor of the University of Guelph from 1991 to 2007.
He was a lawyer from 1953 to 1968, then an MP from 1968 to 1985.
He had a very distinguished career in politics and public service, including being the federal Minister of Labour (1979 to 1980), Chair of the Worker’s Compensation Board of Ontario (1980 to 1985), and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (1985 to 1991).
Notable days in January
- January is Tamil Heritage Month
- January 8
National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Air Disasters - January 11
Sir John A. Macdonald Day - January 17
Raoul Wallenberg Day - January 21
Lincoln Alexander Day - January 24
World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture - January 27
International Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 29
National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia