Beverley Salmon

Beverley Noel Salmon CM OOnt is an activist and former municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Salmon was a North York city and then Metro Toronto Councillor from 1985-1997. Salmon was awarded the Order of Ontario in 2016 and the Order of Canada in 2017.

Beverley N. Salmon
Born
Beverley Bell

Toronto, Ontario
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
OccupationNurse, activist, politician

Early life and education

Born in Toronto in the 1930s, Salmon was the daughter of Beverley Herbert Bell, of Jamaica, and Violet Bryan, a fifth generation Canadian.[1] Salmon began her nursing training at Wellesley Hospital in 1950 and finished a certificate in nursing at the University of Toronto in 1954.[2] Salmon married Dr. Douglas Salmon[3] in 1956 and the couple had four children.[4]

Community work

Salmon was a founding member of the Toronto Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) which was established in 1975, among the rise of racial tensions in Toronto. She worked closely with other UARR members, including Dr. Wilson A. Head and Jean Augustine, and served on the Media Committee and the Board of Directors.

Career

After completing her training, Salmon started her nursing career in Detroit, Michigan, in 1956.[2] While in the city she had the opportunity to hear leaders of the civil rights movement such as Martin Luther King, and was inspired on her return to Toronto to become involved in civil rights activism.

Salmon was the founding chair of the Toronto Board of Education's Black Liaison Committee, where she worked to institute anti-racism training for teachers and increase coverage of Black history in the curriculum.[5] She was a co-founder of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations and was the Ontario Human Rights Commission's first Black female commissioner.[6]

Salmon first ran for elected office in the 1976 municipal election as alderman for Ward 8 on North York Council losing to Alan Milliken Heisey Sr.. Salmon ran again as councillor for Ward 8 in the 1985 municipal election defeating Andy Borins. Borins had been removed from office as Ward 8 councillor during the previous term by a court order due to a court application made by Barbara Greene.[7] She was Toronto's first female black City councillor.[8] She served as a Toronto Transit Commission Board member for the years 1989-1994 and was Vice Chair of the Board in the years 1991-1994.[9][10]

Salmon continued as a Metro Toronto councillor until her retirement in 1997.[11]

Awards and honours

In 1995, Salmon won the Excellence in Politics award at the 1995 African Canadian Achievement Awards.[12] In 1999, Salmon was on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities's honour roll.[13] Salmon was also awarded Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012,[14] the Order of Ontario in 2016 and became a member of the Order of Canada in 2017.[5][15][16]

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References
  1. "Storytellers". 15 July 2017.
  2. Flynn, Karen C. (2011). Moving Beyond Borders: A History of Black Canadian and Caribbean Women in the Diaspora. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 236. ISBN 9781442640214. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  3. "Recognizing a Trailblazer".
  4. "Black History Month: Remembering Dr. Douglas Salmon". www.uhn.ca. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  5. "The 2016 Appointees to the Order of Ontario". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  6. "Beverley Salmon: Never stop fighting systemic discrimination". blogTO. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  7. Borins was subsequently removed from office for conflict of interest by Judge's order "Libel lawsuit against controller sparked alderman's downfall", Globe and Mail, 18 April 1985, M1
  8. "Black History Month profile: Beverley Salmon". toronto.citynews.ca.
  9. https://www.ttc.ca/Coupler/Annual_Reports/1993%20Annual%20Report.pdf
  10. https://www.ttc.ca/Coupler/Annual_Reports/1991%20Annual%20Report.pdf
  11. Sutherland, Tammie (7 February 2014). "Black History Month profile: Beverley Salmon - CityNews Toronto". CityNews Toronto. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  12. "1995 Awardees". African Canadian Achievement Awards. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  13. "Past Recipients". Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  14. "Beverly Noel Salmon, LL.D." 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  15. The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. "The Governor General of Canada: Appointments to the Order of Canada". Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  16. "Ms. Beverley Salmon, C.M., O.Ont". 10 December 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
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