Kamala Jean Gopie is a Jamaican-born Canadian

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

Early life

Gopie, whose ancestors went to Jamaica from India as

indentured An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...

labourers, was born in Jamaica and moved to Canada in 1963 after graduating from high school. She holds

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(1975) and

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

(1990) degrees from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, and worked as a teacher with the North York School Board in private life. She is best known for her community activism within

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Career

She served as president of the

Jamaican Canadian Jamaican Canadians are Canadian citizens of Jamaican descent or Jamaican-born permanent residents of Canada. The population, according to Canada's 2016 Census, is 309,485. Jamaican Canadians comprise about 30% of the entire Black Canadian popu ...

Association from 1979 to 1980, and was a member of the Ontario Advisory Council on Multiculturalism and Citizenship from 1980 to 1984. She later served as chair of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, and was a founding director of the Black Business and Professional Association in 1982. She campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and received 4,171 votes (21.26%) in Oakwood for a third-place finish against New Democratic Party incumbent Tony Grande. She campaigned for the Liberal Party of Canada nomination in

York—Scarborough York—Scarborough was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1988. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. In the twelve gener ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, but was unsuccessful. In early 1986, she was appointed to the Ontario Housing Corporation and became chairman of the Harry Jerome Scholarship Fund for black Canadian athletes. Later in the same year, she helped to organize a Toronto dinner for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu. Gopie served on the Ontario Race Relations and Policing Task Force in 1989. The task force drew attention to reports of systematic racial discrimination in Ontario's police services, and encouraged the Ontario government to establish mandatory hiring quotas for racial minorities (at the time, 94% of Ontario police were white males). Gopie later announced her support for both William McCormack's appointment as chief of the

Toronto Police The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

force in 1989, and Susan Eng's appointment as chair of the Toronto Police board in 1991. It was subsequently reported that Gopie (along with several other black community leaders) was the target of a secret

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

Police probe during her time as a member of the provincial task force. The probe listed Gopie as a radical activist, a charge that she dismissed as "ludicrous". The police action in this matter was widely criticized in the mainstream media. Gopie has received several awards for her community activism, most notably the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official Award, honour in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the A ...

in 1996. She served as a Governor of the

in the 1990s, and was appointed to the federal Immigration and Refugee Board in 1998. The University of Toronto currently offers a Kamala-Jean Gopie Award, to be given to undergraduate students that have "demonstrated an interest in issues concerning women of Indian descent from or in the Caribbean".Kamala-Jean Kopie Award
accessed 20 April 2012.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopie, Kamala-Jean Black Canadian activists Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Jamaican activists Jamaican emigrants to Canada Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the Order of Ontario University of Toronto alumni Jamaican people of Indian descent Women in Ontario politics Black Canadian women Canadian people of Indian descent Canadian women activists