Datasets

Until now, records on racial diversity in politics, and especially the history of Black Canadians, has been scattered and incomplete.

A big part of our work has been an effort to create a comprehensive list of Black Canadians who have run for office. We have focused most intensely on the past two decades, although in these efforts, we have also worked to identify trailblazers and “famous firsts.”

Black Canadian achievements in many fields, including politics, are often marginalized, missing, or erased from the “official” historical record. Media coverage frequently ignores Black Canadian candidates, and electoral records provide no information on candidate race. These constraints make the completion of a complete list of Black Canadians in politics difficult. Without such a list, however, it is impossible to chart progress, highlight success stories, and identify barriers to election.

A key part of our project has focused on the creation of such a list. We have excavated electoral results, news stories, social media, and biographical records to identify more than 400 Black Canadians who have run for and served in elected office in Canada. Although this archive is an important start, we don’t think it is yet exhaustive, and we therefore regard it as  unfinished.