Lincoln Alexander's link to freedom of information

Canada's first black MP fought for transparency

Lincoln Alexander’s legacy of facing down racism in Canada is being celebrated again during this year’s Black History Month.

Alexander (1922-2012) called out bigotry as an obscure black law student in the early 1950s, through to his election in 1968 as Canada’s first black MP; and later, as the country’s first black cabinet minister (1979-80), continuing in his post as Ontario’s lieutenant governor.

A new bust of Alexander, featuring his hallmark glasses and bristle moustache, was the bronze centrepiece for a ceremony in his memory last month at Queen’s Park in Toronto. 

Less well-known, though, is Alexander’s stand against government secrecy, and his support for freedom-of-information legislation in Canada.

He spoke up as a backbench opposition MP after he found himself stymied by Ottawa’s bureaucracy whenever he needed government files for the benefit of his Hamilton West constituents. Snubbed outsiders are often the ones who rail most fiercely against entrenched secrecy.

Among the most egregious examples of institutionalized opacity in Alexander’s day was the ability of governments to withhold the final reports of public commissions of inquiry. Such commissions answered directly to government, with no requirement to release findings to Parliament. Cabinet could delay tabling reports at its pleasure, or never allow their release at all.

Alexander was incensed, and three times (1972, 1974, 1976) introduced a private member’s bill to compel the publication of such reports within 15 days’ of their completion. As with most private member’s bills, the proposal quickly died each time.

Alexander again stood up for transparency, literally, when he supported a private member’s bill from fellow Conservative MP Ged Baldwin in 1974. Baldwin’s “Right to Information Act” (Bill C-225) was a reiteration of proposed legislation he had tried for years to get passed.

Linc, as Alexander was affectionately known, was the first to rise in support of Baldwin’s bill during second-reading debate in the House of Commons, on Dec. 19, 1974.

“It is a terrible situation when we, as members of Parliament, representing our constituencies, find it impossible to get information which has been gathered at the expense of the taxpayer for his benefit,” Alexander told the House. “This is what is wrong.”

“[T]he public is entitled to information which has been gathered on their behalf by the government …”

“I feel so distant at times and so hopelessly frustrated when I read the questions on the order paper, particularly in terms of production of documents where invariably the answer is no, it is privileged information or it is against the public interest.”

That debate 50 years ago was a turning point. The Liberal government made a deal to refer the matter to a joint Senate-Commons committee. After many twists and turns, the Access to Information Act was finally passed in 1982, giving citizens the right to compel the release of government information.

Alexander left Parliament in 1980, and enjoyed a career in public service afterwards. He held to his principles of open government when, as chair of the Workers Compensation Board of Ontario (1980-85), he told his executive assistant: “[T]he people have the right to know when we do good and even more so when we do bad.”

Lincoln Alexander was a principled lawyer, politician and public servant, courageous in calling out persistent currents of racism in a country that too readily dismissed them.

He was also a man of the people, especially his Hamilton West constituents, who were often poorly served by secretive elites in distant Ottawa. We should also remember Linc for demanding respect for the people’s representatives, and for speaking up consistently for transparency and openness in government.