Name Rosemary Brown Books Being Brown Resigned 1986 | Education McGill University Role Canadian Politician | |
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Full Name Rosemary Wedderburn Born June 17, 1930
Kingston, Jamaica ( 1930-06-17 ) Died April 26, 2003, Vancouver, Canada Political party British Columbia New Democratic Party | ||
Prominet black canadians rosemary brown
Rosemary Brown, (née Wedderburn; June 17, 1930 – April 26, 2003), was a Canadian politician.
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Early years
Rosemary Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1930, and moved to Canada in 1951 to study social work at McGill University in Montreal. She proceeded to earn a Master of Social Work at the University of British Columbia.
Political history
She served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the British Columbia legislature as a part of the New Democratic Party from 1972-86, making her the first Black Canadian woman to be elected to a Canadian provincial legislature.
In 1975, 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), finishing a strong second (with 40.1% of the votes on the fourth and final ballot) to Ed Broadbent in that year's New Democratic Party leadership election.
After departing politics, she became a professor of women's studies at Simon Fraser University. In 1993, she was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and served until 1996. In 1995, she was awarded the Order of British Columbia and in 1996 was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Brown was sworn to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada as a member of the federal Security Intelligence Review Committee, responsible for overseeing the actions of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, 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.
Death
She died of a heart attack on April 26, 2003, aged 72, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Legacy
Canada Post 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 was dedicated to and named for her.