Rosemary Brown (née Wedderburn; June 17, 1930 – April 26, 2003) was a Canadian politician.Lorraine Snyder
"Rosemary Brown"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

'', January 27, 2010. She was the first black woman elected to the provincial government of British Columbia.

Early years

Rosemary Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1930. She came to Canada in the year 1951 to attend university. She proceeded to earn a

Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social work ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. As a student at McGill, and later the University of British Columbia, she faced pervasive discrimination. It was through adversity that she found her purpose as a leader against racism and sexism. She helped to found the British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (BCAACP) in 1956 to help advocate for housing, employment and human rights legislation.

Political history

Brown served as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

(MLA) in the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

as a part of the New Democratic Party from 1972 to 1986, making her the first Black Canadian woman to be elected to a Canadian provincial legislature. During that time, she advocated for Canadian minorities and changed the legislature to uphold equality. She worked on improving "services for the elderly, the disadvantaged, immigrants and people with disabilities" as well as prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race or sex. In 1972, she became the first black woman to run for the leadership of a Canadian federal party (and only the second woman, after

Mary Walker-Sawka Mary Walker-Sawka (born c. 1916)"Diefenbaker Blasts Party's Policy on '2-Nation' Canada", ''Chicago Tribune'', September 9, 1967 was a Canadian film producer,Ed Broadbent John Edward "Ed" Broadbent (born March 21, 1936) is a Canadian social-democratic politician, political scientist, and chair of the Broadbent Institute, a policy thinktank. He was leader of the New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 200 ...

in that year's New Democratic Party leadership election. After departing politics, she became a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

. In 1993, she was appointed Chief Commissioner of the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature through ...

and served until 1996. In 1995, she was awarded the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier ...

and in 1996 was named an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. Brown was sworn to the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

as a member of the Federal

Security Intelligence Review Committee The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC; french: Comité de surveillance des activités de renseignement de sécurité) was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the o ...

, responsible for overseeing the actions of the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...

, a role which she held from 1993 to 1998. She also served on the Order of Canada Advisory Committee from 1999 until her death in 2003.

Honours and awards

* National Black Coalition Award, 1972 *

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Human Rights Fellowship, 1973 * YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, 1989 *

, 1995 *

, 1996 * Government of Jamaica Commander of the Order of Distinction, 2001 * Canadian Labour Congress Award for Outstanding Service to Humanity, 2002 * 15 honorary doctorate degrees from Canadian Universities including UBC, 1995.

Death

She died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

aged 72, in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in 2003.

Legacy

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

featured Brown on a Canadian postage stamp released on February 2, 2009. On June 17, 2005, a park in Brown's former provincial riding of

Vancouver-Burrard Vancouver-Burrard was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It first appeared on the hustings in the 1933 general election and included the neighbourhoods of Kitsilano and Fairview. This ver ...

was dedicated to and named for her. In 2021 a new public school in the Durham District School board in Ontario was named Rosemary Brown Public School. A recreation centre to be named for Brown is under construction at 10th Avenue and 18th Street in the Edmonds neighbourhood of Burnaby and is slated to open in 2022.

Bibliography

*Brown, Rosemary. ''Being Brown: A Very Public Life''. Toronto: Random House, 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Rosemary 1930 births 2003 deaths Black Canadian politicians British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Canadian activists Emigrants from British Jamaica to Canada McGill University School of Social Work alumni Members of the Order of British Columbia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Simon Fraser University faculty Women MLAs in British Columbia Canadian autobiographers Politicians from Kingston, Jamaica Politicians from Vancouver Black Canadian women 20th-century Canadian women politicians Women autobiographers History of Black people in British Columbia University of British Columbia School of Social Work alumni