page_title: List of electoral firsts in Canada
section_title: Black Canadians
hierarchical_section_title: List of electoral firsts in Canada / Black Canadians
caption_attribution_description: Former Etobicoke—Lakeshore M.P. Jean Augustine, at a Christmas function for Michael Ignatieff, Liberal Party leader and her successor as Member of Parliament for Etobicoke—Lakeshore. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
context_page_description: This list includes:
  Members of Parliament—Members of the House of Commons of Canada;
  Senators—Members of the Senate of Canada
  Governor-general—Canadian Governors General and Lieutenant Governors
  Members of the Legislative Assembly;
  Members of Provincial Parliament;
  Members of the National Assembly in Quebec; and
  Members of the House of Assembly in Newfoundland and Labrador.
context_section_description: Earliest Black Canadians elected in Canada:
  Wilson Ruffin Abbott, Elected to Toronto city council in 1840.
  Abraham D. Shadd, Councillor of Raleigh Township (from 1858)
  Abner Hunt Francis, Elected as councillor of Victoria in 1865, however, he resigned after being sworn in since he was not listed on the 1863 Assessment Role.
  Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, Councillor of Victoria (1867–1869)
  James W. Douglas, Victoria City, British Columbia MLA, 1875–1878 (his paternal grandmother was part Black. As well, his mother was Cree.)
  Burr Plato, town council member, Town of Niagara Falls (from 1886);
  William Hubbard, City of Toronto city council member (from 1894) and a member of the Board of Control.  To this day, by virtue of his being on the citywide elected Board of Control, the only visible minority ever elected citywide across Toronto.
  First Black candidate to run for the House of Commons:
  Bill White, Spadina, CCF (the forerunner to the New Democratic Party) 1949
  First Black Canadian elected to the House of Commons:
  Rt. Hon Lincoln Alexander, Hamilton West, Progressive Conservative MP 1968–1984
  First Black leader of a federal political party:
  Vivian Barbot, Interim leader of the Bloc Québécois, 2011
  First Black leader of a provincial political party:
  Stuart Parker, Leader of the Green Party of British Columbia, 1993–2000
  First Black candidate to run for the Ontario Legislature:
  Stanley G. Grizzle, York East, ran for the Ontario CCF (the forerunner to the Ontario New Democratic Party) in the 1959 provincial general election.
  First Black Canadian elected to a Provincial Legislature in Canada:
  James W. Douglas, Victoria City, British Columbia MLA, 1875–1878
  First Black woman elected to municipal council:
  Virnetta Anderson, City Councillor in Calgary from 1974-1977
  First Black woman elected in Canada:
  Rosemary Brown Vancouver-Burrard, Burnaby-Edmonds, British Columbia New Democratic Party MLA 1972–1986
  First Black woman elected to the House of Commons (first Black female MP)
  Jean Augustine, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, Liberal MP, 1993–2006
  First Black provincial legislator:
  Leonard Braithwaite, Etobicoke-York, Ontario Liberal MPP 1963–1975
  First Black MLA in British Columbia:
  James W. Douglas, Victoria City, MLA 1875–1878
  First Black female MLA in
  Canada (and British Columbia): Rosemary Brown, Vancouver-Burrard, British Columbia New Democratic Party MLA 1972–1986
  First Black MLA in Alberta:
  George Rogers, Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA Leduc-Beaumont-Devon 2004–2015
  First Black MPP in Ontario:
  Leonard Braithwaite, Etobicoke-York, Ontario Liberal MPP 1963–1975
  First Black female MPP in Ontario:
  Zanana Akande, St. Andrew—St. Patrick, Ontario New Democratic Party MPP 1990–1994
  First Black MNA in Quebec:
  Jean Alfred, Papineau, Parti Québécois MNA 1976–1981
  First Black Canadian and Female City Councillor in Montreal:
  Kettly Beauregard, Marie-Victorin, Parti Vision Montreal, 1994–2001
  First Black Canadian and Female City Councillor in London, Ontario:
  Arielle Kayabaga, October 22, 2018
  First Black Female MNA in Quebec:
  Yolande James, Nelligan, Liberal MNA 2003–present
  First Black MLA in Nova Scotia:
  Wayne Adams, Nova Scotia Liberal MLA for Preston 1993–1998
  First Black female MLA in Nova Scotia:
  Yvonne Atwell, Nova Scotia New Democratic Party MLA for Preston 1998–1999
  Black Speakers of Legislatures in Canada
  Emery Barnes, British Columbia New Democratic Party MLA 1972–1996, Speaker in British Columbia Legislature 1993 to 1996 when he retired.
  Alvin Curling, Ontario Liberal MPP 1985–2005, Speaker 2003–2005
  First Black woman in Cabinet:
  Zanana Akande, St. Andrew—St. Patrick, Ontario New Democratic Party MPP 1990–1994
  First Black Governor General of Canada:
  Michaëlle Jean Governor General of Canada, 2005–2010
  First Black Lieutenant Governor:
  Rt. Hon Lincoln Alexander Lt. Governor of Ontario, 1985–1991
  first black female candidate for a Canadian federal party leadership
  Rosemary Brown in the 1975 New Democratic Party leadership election
  First Black Senator:
  Anne Cools, Liberal Senator 1983–2004, Conservative, 2004+
  First Black mayor:
  Firmin Monesti
caption: Jean Augustine, first Black woman elected to the House of Commons
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