Mcleod, Susanna. "Jean Augustine". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 29 January 2019, Historica Canada. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jean-augustine. Accessed 20 April 2019.
Jean Augustine (née Simon), PC, CM, first Black female MP and Cabinet minister, social justice advocate, teacher, principal (born 9 September 1937 in Happy Hill, Grenada).
Jean Augustine (née Simon), PC, CM, first Black	female MP and Cabinet minister, social justice advocate, teacher, principal (born 9 September 1937 in Happy Hill, Grenada). Jean Augustine was a trailblazing politician and social activist: elected the first Black female Member of Parliament (1993), appointed the first Black woman in Cabinet (2002), and named first Fairness Commissioner by the Government of Ontario (2007). Her legacy includes the federal declaration of February as Black History Month, a motion she introduced in 1995.
Jean Augustine was born in Happy Hill, Grenada, the daughter of Olive and Ossie Simon, a sugar cane plantation worker. The family was shaken when Ossie died of tetanus; Jean was a toddler and Olive was pregnant with her second child. The family moved in with an older woman called “Granny,” where the Augustine children were encouraged to succeed in school.
An A student, Augustine expressed interests in music, radio broadcasting and teaching. She became a teacher, but the pay was low. After learning about opportunities in Canada, Augustine applied for a nanny position through the West Indian Domestic Scheme. The program, which operated from 1955 to 1966, enlisted women aged 18 to 35 with a minimum eighth grade education to fill the growing need for nannies in Canada. In exchange for working in family homes for one year, the young women were given landed immigrant status (see Citizenship). Augustine arrived in Canada in 1960 and worked for one year in the Forest Hill neighbourhood of Toronto.
Augustine was an activist in Toronto’s Caribbean communities throughout her teaching career, volunteering with grassroots organizations to strengthen immigrant	and women’s rights and to combat violence against women, drug abuse and poverty. In 1967, she served on the committee that helped organize the first Caribana festival. In 1973, Augustine founded the Toronto chapter of the Congress of Black Women of Canada, where she later became national president.
Augustine was ambitious; in order to advance her education and prospects, she attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a BA (Hons) and later a master of education (1980). Her efforts led to the promotions of vice-principal, and then principal in the Toronto District Catholic Schoolboard, where she served until 1988.
Augustine was appointed chair of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority on 24 November 1988, remaining in the job until she entered politics in 1993.
Jean Augustine was nominated as Liberal candidate for the Etobicoke–Lakeshore district in Ontario	on 25 October 1993. An enthusiastic, intelligent and charismatic woman, Augustine won the seat and became the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons. Of approximately 65,000 voters registered in the district, only 700 were Black. Augustine was re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2004.
As a new Member of Parliament, Augustine tackled issues that were important to her riding, to women and to Canadians. Appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada	(1993–96), she was Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s trusted voice on committees, at international meetings and in Parliament when he was absent from the House of Commons.
I was an educator.… I recognized that the classroom curriculum was saying very little about African Canadians. The same thing was done to Indigenous peoples — if there was any reference, it was either in the footnote or as a sideline. Black Canadians were not part of the script and were not shown contributing to Canadian society.
With that in mind, Augustine put a motion before Parliament to recognize February as Black History Month, asking, “That this House take note of the important contribution 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.” The motion passed unanimously in December 1995, and February was proclaimed Black History Month in Canada.
As a Member of Parliament, Jean Augustine served as Chair of the National Liberal Women’s Caucus for three terms. She was also elected chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade in February 2002.
Augustine was appointed Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women) on 26 May 2002, making her the first Black woman to achieve a post in Cabinet. The same year, she was selected to be a member of the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada. On 12 December 2003, she was appointed Minister of State (Multiculturalism and Status of Women).
In 2004, Augustine was elected Assistant Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.
A member of the Citizenship and Immigration Committee over several terms, Augustine sat on international boards and associations related to women’s rights, human rights, HIV/AIDS, economic development and industry, and immigrant rights, as well as racism	and discrimination.
After retiring from politics in November 2005, Jean Augustine continued her career in advocacy. In March 2007, the Ontario government appointed her the province’s first Fairness Commissioner. The Office of the Fairness Commissioner (OFC) ensures that qualified foreign-trained professionals (e.g., in medicine, teaching) can get the required licences to practise in the province.
During Augustine’s tenure, the OFC influenced hundreds of improvements made to licencing procedures in Ontario — improvements that made the process easier to navigate, more transparent and impartial. After eight years at the helm of OFC, Augustine retired in March 2015.
In 1987, Jean Augustine received the first Kay Livingstone Award from the Congress of Black Women of Canada. In 1994, Pride magazine awarded her with the Canadian Black Achievement Award. In 2002, she was sworn into the Queen’s Privy Council, and in 2007 Grenada’s University of the West Indies praised Augustine with their Caribbean Luminary Award.
Augustine was inducted as Member of the Order of Canada in 2007, “For her distinguished career as an educator, politician and advocate for social justice in Canada.” Augustine was granted the prestigious appointment of Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014, and in 2016 a Brampton, Ontario, high school was named in her honour. Augustine was granted an honorary doctor of laws by the University of Toronto, and has received honorary degrees from the University of Guelph, McGill University and York University.
PUSHING BUTTONS, PUSHING STORIESJean Augustine Political Button Collection, York University.