In 1859, American-born shoemaker and abolitionist Abraham Doras Shadd became the first Black man to hold public office in Canada when he was elected as a councillor in southwestern Ontario.
More than a century later, in 1972, social worker Rosemary Brown became the first Black woman elected to a provincial legislature, serving as an MLA in British Columbia. Three years later, she ran for the NDP’s leadership, finishing a close second to Ed Broadbent.
By Dan Rubinstein | Carleton University
