Lincoln Alexander : Ask Biography

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Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, (born January 21, 1922), served as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. Alexander was also a Governor of the Canadian Unity Council.

Born in Toronto, Ontario to West Indian immigrants to Canada, Lincoln Alexander first distinguished himself by serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the second World War. In 1953, he graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. Alexander 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. During this period, he was indirectly involved in the famous fuddle duddle incident involving Trudeau, because he spoke to the press over the alleged profanity.

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 Ontario Worker's Compensation Board.

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 second black person to serve in a vice-regal position in Canada. (James Douglas, who was of mixed descent, was Governor of Vancouver Island and of British Columbia prior to Canadian Confederation.) During Alexander's term in vice-regal 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. From 1991 to 2007, Alexander served as Chancellor of the University of Guelph, longer than any of his predecessors, and subsequently assumed the office of Chancellor Emeritus. Alexander was also named Chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation in 2000 and he remains an active spokesman on race relations and veterans' issues. He is currently the Honourary Patron of the Hamilton, Ontario branch of St. John Ambulance, as well as Honourary 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 (ISBN 1-55002-663-1).