Canada’s first Black woman MP talks about life as a trailblazer and changing the script
This country's first Black woman MP, Jean Augustine, was recently celebrated in Ottawa as a trailblazer who put social justice on the parliamentary agenda.
"The discussion when I got [to Parliament Hill] was all about debt and deficit, softwood lumber, yogurt and ice cream, boneless beef, and I kept reflecting on that because no one at all the doors [that] I knocked [on], said, 'When you get to Ottawa, vote for boneless beef.' So I focused on … the fire that was in my belly, and they were social justice issues,” Augustine said on June 1 at an event in Ottawa where she received the Pearson Centre’s Laureate Award.
Those social-justice issues included ensuring that the legacy of Black Canadians would be acknowledged through an annual Black History Month. It is now an ongoing celebration every February because of Augustine’s work in the early and mid-1990s, when she was parliamentary secretary to then-Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien.
Her other political titles between first being elected in 1993 and retiring from the Hill in 2006 include minister of state, focusing on women and multiculturalism, and special adviser to the prime minister on Grenada.
“I was in a place built by men to do men's work. I was the first Black woman to walk into that place. No Black woman had walked there and left breadcrumbs for me to follow, so I had to find my own way,” Augustine told the audience.
More than 30 years later, Augustine was at the National Arts Centre on June 1 to receive the Laureate Award. The festivities included a conversation between the former MP and Health Minister Marjorie Michel (Papineau, Que.). The event was chaired by current Liberal MPs Tatiana Auguste (Terrebonne, Que.) and Greg Fergus (Hull—Aylmer, Que.).
Kevin Bosch, managing partner of Sandstone Group and chair of the Pearson Centre’s board of directors, told The Hill Times that evening that the Laureate Award is the organization’s highest honour, and is for those “who have made the highest level of contribution to creating public policy and leadership for creating a better country.”
Augustine is only the fourth recipient of the award after Chrétien, former Progressive Conservative prime minister Joe Clark, and and former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler.
The 89-year-old was lauded on stage as an inspiration to Black Liberal MPs, who said their own paths to the House of Commons were made possible by Augustine’s first step.
Referring to her role as health minister, Michel said it is a “big privilege” to follow Augustine.
“I think we are all following your steps because we have to make a difference, and I agree with you that we [have made] progress, but we are not there yet, and it's a collective effort, not only for Black people, but for the whole society,” Michel said, referring to Jean's comments about social justice as ongoing work.
Deputy Government House Leader Arielle Kayabaga (London West, Ont.) said during the event that Augustine “helped open doors for a new generation of leaders” including herself, Auguste, and Michel, “who can now see themselves reflected in Canada’s public institutions.”
“You had to pave the way, you opened the door, and when you broke the glass ceiling, I'm sure that the glass cut, but the result of it is what we see today,” Kayabaga said speaking directly to Augustine.
Making Black and Indigenous Peoples' history a ‘part of the script’
Augustine regaled the audience with behind-the-scenes stories of how some of her greatest accomplishments came to be.
The inspiration for Black History Month began in her first career as a teacher, and then a school principal.
Augustine said she realized the curriculum didn’t include lessons about Indigenous Peoples or Black Canadians. An immigrant from Grenada, Augustine said she socialized with Black people, but she didn’t know much about their history in her adopted country. She was also paying attention to the fact that the United States had celebrated Black History Month every year for more than 100 years.
Once Augustine was elected to represent Etobicoke—Lakeshore, Ont., in 1993, she ensured that these gaps in public knowledge became a part of the parliamentary discussion.
“As the discussion went from one side to the next—boneless beef, softwood lumber, Canada is going down the drain in a basket—I started asking people about teaching African-Canadian history, about Indigenous Peoples’ history, and having that not [as] sidelines and footnotes, but being a part of the script,” Augustine said to a round of applause.
On Dec. 14, 1995, Augustine stood on the floor of the House and presented the following motion: “That this House take note of the important contributions of Black Canadians to the settlement, growth and development of Canada, the diversity of the Black community in Canada and its importance to the history of this country, and recognize February as Black History Month.”
Her motion received unanimous consent.
A dash into the House to stamp symbol of women’s history on Parliament Hill
Just as Augustine made history as Canada’s first Black woman MP, she pounded the pavement—and the Centre Block floor—to ensure that Canadians see and know the history of other trailblazers whose work also opened up Canada’s public institutions to more diverse representation.
She was the sponsor of the motion on Dec. 11, 1997, that would lead to the placement of the Famous Five statue on Parliament Hill.
The Famous Five—Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney, and Henrietta Muir Edwards—launched a Supreme Court challenge in 1927, in response to the British North America Act, which signified that a “person” was always a “he.” The Canadian government interpreted the act as stating that women could not be appointed to the Senate.
While the Supreme Court did not find in their favour, an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain—then Canada’s highest appeal court—was successful.
In 1997, Augustine and other MPs, including then-Canadian heritage minister Sheila Copps, worked to see how a statue commemorating the Famous Five could be added to the collection of monuments on the Hill, according to the former MP.
Copps “found out that we could not put the statue of the Famous Five on Parliament Hill or the statue of anyone but monarchs or prime ministers who were nation-builders,” Augustine said.
The Liberal government formally rescinded this rule, allowing Augustine, then-chair of the women’s caucus, to introduce a motion for the statue. But there was another obstacle: newly-Independent MP John Nunziata, who had been thrown out of the Liberal caucus by Chrétien, just prior to the vote, according to Augustine.
Every time she stood up to tell the House speaker there was unanimous consent for the motion, Nunziata would call out “noooo,” Augustine recalled, dramatically drawing out Nunziata’s response.
“It went on the whole day. It was like cat and mouse.”
She jokingly advised the audience to go to the three pages of “really good reading” of Hansard for that December day, which outline Augustine’s five attempts to pass the motion and Nunziata’s protest.
The MPs who wanted to see the Famous Five statue on Parliament Hill caught a break when Nunziata returned to his riding on a Thursday evening.
Then-Liberal MP Marlene Catterall called Augustine in her West Block office to tell her Nunziata had left so “I ran through the tunnel and I got to my seat, and [said,] ‘Mr. Speaker, you will find…” Augustine recalled on stage on June 1, adding some huffing and puffing to mimic how she felt after dashing into the House.
Though a Reform Party MP tried to say "no," victory was Augustine’s when the House speaker saw the opposing MP was not wearing a jacket, and was not in his seat.
“The speaker just kind of looked over, and I carried on because the speaker ignores you if you're not properly dressed, so I continued, and that was how we got unanimous consent,” Augustine said to claps and cheers.
The Famous Five statue was installed on Parliament Hill in 2000. In 2019, it was transferred near the Senate of Canada building when the Centre Block renovations began.
A part of Augustine’s non-political legacy is the establishment of the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment, a charitable organization in Etobicoke, Ont., which works to empower girls and young women in her home city and beyond.
She said her organization’s work involves educating young women about non-traditional jobs and life skills such as financial literacy.
As for Augustine’s present and future work, the former MP said she’s not done.
“To stop is really to say that my life has ended. No, I am blessed with energy, [and] my brain is working, I think,” Augustine joked.
“I push on because there is much work to be done, and I think it's important for us to recognize that where we are, what we're doing, how we're supporting, is really a work in progress In Canada. … Why I continue to be engaged is because we're headed to a place that's fair and just and inclusive, and the march is on, [but] we're not there yet,” she said.
tsanci@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times