Bill S-213 (Historical)

Lincoln Alexander Day Act

An Act respecting Lincoln Alexander Day

This enactment designates the twenty-first day of January in each and every year as “Lincoln Alexander Day”.

Lincoln Alexander Day Act

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be making my comments in English, which is unusual for me, but I want my message to be properly understood and for people to see that what I am about to say comes from the heart.

I am sure many members in the House will actually wonder what a little guy from Rimouski can say about Lincoln Alexander.

They have to understand that after finishing graduate school in Montreal, I had a chance to work at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation in Toronto in 2001. I was working as a media relations officer on the French side. At the time, the chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation was Lincoln Alexander, so I had the chance to actually work with him. I worked more closely with him in a couple of instances when we had annual general meetings, where I served as his personal press attaché. I had a chance to know him and meet with him, although not to the extent that some members of this House did. I had a chance to have personal contact with him.

Members will know that I was obviously coming from Quebec, and my first year in Toronto working for this organization was with him.

Given my height, I do not have to raise my eyes too often to look at people's eyes, but in this case I had to. Notwithstanding his personal and physical height, even if he had been 5'6” or 5'7”, I would still have had to raise my eyes to meet his gaze. Such was his stature and such was his gravitas.

I was not intimidated: he was somebody who was able to put people at ease very easily. Even though he commanded respect, he was somebody who was able to make people feel that he was genuinely, truly interested in what they had to say.

I remember conversations I had with him in which he wondered about my experience as a Quebecker working in Ontario. We did not really talk about politics, but he was interested in knowing about my previous life in the student movement.

I remember working with him. I was his press attaché, so I was doing media relations with him, and I remember how demanding he was of me and of my colleague, who was also doing media relations on the English side. I did the work with pleasure, because I also had the pleasure of seeing, in those instances, how demanding he was of himself.

We have to remember that I spoke of 2001. I was hired to work at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation shortly after 9/11, and tensions were very high at the time. Race relations was an issue that was at the forefront. It was a very sensitive issue.

His past experience and his knowledge of communities made it so that even though those were very difficult times, very sensitive times, he was able to work toward bridging race relations at a time when such relations were in jeopardy. That speaks a lot to his ability to unite people, to create a consensus around him, to speak from a higher authority, his own authority as somebody who had to live through a time when race relations were really not what they are today.

We heard from many hon. members about the difficulties he had in his youth and the efforts he had to make to build his place in this world and make his mark, not only as a member of Parliament and the first black member of Parliament but as the first black member of cabinet as well.

He was able to bring a golden touch to everything he touched, everything he put his mind to, in the sense that he was very successful in bringing the attention of the people around him to those issues with the level of attention that those issues required.

I feel fortunate to have been able to stand side by side with this great human being, this great member of the Canadian community, even if for a short amount of time. In that sense, I want to bring this personal touch to the debate. I believe I might be the only speaker on this issue who is not from Ontario, so I am glad to have been able to bring that broader perspective to it. I have been personally touched by his humanity and his ability to create a consensus around him.

At the time I started working with him, I did not know much about Lincoln Alexander, because when I had been growing up in Quebec I had been too young when he was a member of Parliament, and even a member of cabinet, but I had a chance to learn about his past when I was working for him.

I am grateful and appreciate the opportunity to read about his life and his accomplishments. In that sense, I hope that the House will unanimously support this bill to make January 21 Lincoln Alexander day, which I believe will be the case. It is an homage we are paying to this great man, which is probably not sufficient when compared to his contributions to politics, to race relations, and to society as a whole, but it is the least we can do. Therefore, I appreciate the effort on all sides of the House, including the member for Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale and our member for Hamilton Mountain, to bring this forth and make it a reality.

[The Deputy Speaker, Joe Comartin]

Resuming debate. The hon. member for Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale will now have his five minutes of reply.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to say a heartfelt thanks to all of the members who spoke so warmly about Linc from their memories of him, from working with him, and from his reputation.

It is an honour for me to close the second hour of debate at second reading of Bill S-213, an act respecting Lincoln Alexander day.

I was blessed to know Lincoln Alexander in his later years, in particular because the riding he represented when he was a member of Parliament back in the late 1960s and 1970s, the constituency of Hamilton West, included some of the same neighbourhoods that are in the constituency I currently represent. More than that, everyone in the Hamilton area has stories of their encounters with Lincoln Alexander. He was approachable. He was a man of the people and the people, loved him for it.

I will note that it is appropriate that we are having this discussion today, since we watched the swearing in of another Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario yesterday, when Elizabeth Dowdeswell became the 29th Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. It is the perfect context for our discussion today of Ontario's 24th Lieutenant-Governor, Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, and one of our most beloved.

Most people knew him better as “Linc”. It is a signature of his character that he preferred the familiar name rather than more formal names that someone of his accomplishment, credentials, and stature could rightly demand.

This legislation seeks to designate January 21 of each year as Lincoln M. Alexander day, and here is why. It is to honour the memory of this great Canadian, great Ontarian, and great Hamiltonian; to recognize his commitment to building a better future through our young people and to use this day to further Linc's life-long passion of investing in our young people and building up tomorrow's leaders; and to also honour his many contributions, both personal and political, toward equality and fairness, more specifically, to ending racial discrimination. This was equally a lifelong passion of Linc's.

His very presence in public life opened doors and broke down barriers.

As is the hallmark of a great man, many people have many good things to say about him, so I apologize up front if I am repeating a few highlights of Linc's distinguished career that have already been mentioned by members opposite and members on this side of the House during the course of this discussion.

Long before Linc was Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, a post that allowed him to grow his mission exponentially to help youth in our society, he was a scrappy, outspoken member of Parliament from Hamilton. There are more than a few members who will agree that MPs from Hamilton can have that kind of reputation. Perhaps it is the grit of a hard-working city and region, but one thing is for sure: Linc exemplified that day-in and day-out.

I will never forget attending Linc's funeral service in October 2012 at the Hamilton Place auditorium in downtown Hamilton. It was a fitting final tribute to a great man who had laid in state at the Ontario legislature in the days leading up to his funeral.

For a man who came from humble beginnings, who worked hard to make a difference in law and politics despite all the barriers put in his way, how amazing it was that prime ministers, premiers, mayors, cabinet ministers, MPs, and MPPs dropped all their plans on that Friday in October to pay tribute to Linc, along with thousands of his fellow citizens, his fellow Hamiltonians. I dare say it was the latter group, his fellow citizens, who had a larger place in Linc's heart.

Lincoln M. Alexander distinguished himself in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. He believed in our youth. He was a relentless champion for equality and fairness. He was a trailblazer in the fight to end racial discrimination. He was an eloquent ambassador for Ontario and Canada as Lieutenant-Governor. He was an inspiration to so many Canadians. The very least we can do is name January 21 in his honour. Let his birthday and the values he stood for live on forever in the hearts of Canadians.

I ask all members of the House for their support of the bill at second reading so that we may advance it to committee and eventually to the law of the land. I can think of no better tribute.

God bless the memory of Lincoln M. Alexander.

[The Deputy Speaker, Joe Comartin]

Is the House ready for the question.

[Some hon. members]

Question.

[The Deputy Speaker, Joe Comartin]

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker, Joe Comartin]

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)