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Hundreds of African-Americans from Oklahoma had moved to the Canadian Prairies by 1909. There, they met the same wariness and discrimination that had led to slavery earlier in history.
In February 1911, a few newspapers in Winnipeg even predicted that the Dominion government would move to exclude "Negro" immigrants. -
Harriet Tubman, the heroine of the Underground Railroad, died in New York in 1913. She made 19 secret trips to the American South and guided more than 300 slaves to freedom in Canada.
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In 1916, Reverend C.W. Washington of Edmonton offered to raise an all-Black battalion due to low enlistment figures. Military officials authorized the creation of the No. 2 Construction Battalion. The battalion served in France with the Canadian Forestry Corps.
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(No exact date found)
Porters were people that worked on trains: they carried luggage and helped passengers. Almost all porters in Canada were black men then. -
Ontario was the first province to respond to social change when it passed the Racial Discrimination Act, which prohibited the publication and display of any symbol, sign, or notice that expressed ethnic, racial, or religious discrimination.
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Viola Desmond, a Black woman from Halifax, was arrested for sitting in the "White-only" section in a theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, even though she was willing to buy the more expensive ticket.
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A restaurant in Chatham, Ontario, was fined $50 for refusing to serve two black students.
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As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Ellen Fairclough's most significant accomplishment was the reform of the government's "White Canada" immigration policy. Regulations made then helped eliminate racial discrimination in Canada's immigration policies.
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Leonard Braithwaite became the first African-Canadian in a provincial legislature when he was elected as the Liberal member for Etobicoke, Ontario in 1963.
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The Black Baptist Church was vandalized and the town sign was spray-painted "Amherstburg Home of the KKK." The situation was saved by an investigation by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
No arrests were made. -
(No exact date found)
Sprinter Harry Jerome was awarded the Order of Canada medal. Jerome represented Canada in three Olympic Games. -
Anne Cools was appointed to the Senate, the first black Canadian to serve in the Upper Chamber. .
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(No exact date given)
Dr. William Oliver and his wife Pearleen Oliver helped unite the Black community in the 1940s and 1950s. William received the Order of Canada in 1984. Pearleen received an Honorary Doctorate from Saint Mary's University in 1990. -
Lincoln Alexander was born of West Indian immigrant parents. He was sworn in as Ontario's lieutenant-governor in September 1985. Alexander was also the first Black MP and federal Cabinet minister.
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(No exact date given)
At Cole Harbour District High School, a fight between one Black and one White student turned into one involving 50 youths of both races.
This led to Nova Scotia's Ministry of Education establishing a fund in 1995 to improve education and support anti-racist initiatives. -
Helen Mouskos planned to marry Lawrence Martineau, son of Trinidadian immigrants. Her parents protested about their marriage. Helen's father, Andreas, was enraged and hired a hit man to kill Lawrence. The murder plot was discovered and Andreas was sentenced to five years in prison in June 1993.
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A condemnation of Canada's multiculturalism policies by Neil Bissoondath, a Canadian novelist and immigrant from Trinidad.
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Prime Minister Paul Martin announced the appointment of Haitian-born Michaëlle Jean as Governor General of Canada. Jean renounced her French citizenship before taking office and disproved of having a connection to the separatist movement.
