Beverley Noel Salmon ( Bell; December 25, 1930 – July 6, 2023) was a Canadian activist and municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario. Salmon was a

North York North York is a former township and city and is now one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the northern area of Toronto, centred around Yonge Street, north of Ontario Highway 401. It is bounded by ...

city and then

Metro Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an Regional municipality, upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and vill ...

Councillor from 1985 to 1997. Salmon was awarded the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

in 2016 and the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2017.

Early life and education

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on December 25, 1930, Salmon was the daughter of Herbert Bell, a Jamaican immigrant, and Violet Bryan, a fifth generation Canadian of Scottish descent. Salmon began her Registered Nursing training at

Wellesley Hospital The Wellesley Hospital was a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is ...

in 1950 and finished a certificate in Public Health Nursing at the

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

in 1954. She was a Victorian Order Nurse (VON) in Toronto from 1954 to 1956. Salmon married Dr.(John) Douglas Salmon in 1956 and the couple had four children.

Career

After completing her training, Salmon started her nursing career in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan, in 1956. While in the city she had the opportunity to hear leaders of the civil rights movement such as

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, 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. She was a co-founder of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations and was the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature throug ...

's first Black female commissioner. Salmon first ran for elected office in the 1976 municipal election as alderman for Ward 8 in

, losing to Alan Milliken Heisey Sr. She ran again as Councillor for Ward 8 in the 1985 municipal election and defeated Andy Borins, who 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 Barbara Greene (born 1 September 1945) is a former Canadian politician. She served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She was previously a municipal politician in North York ...

. She was Toronto's first female black City councillor. While as Councillor, she served as a

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

Board member for the years 1989 to 1994 and was Vice Chair of the Board in the years 1991 to 1994. Salmon continued as a

Councillor until her retirement in 1997.

Death

Salmon died in Toronto on July 6, 2023, at the age of 92.

Awards and honours

In 1995, Salmon won the Excellence in Politics award at the 1995 African Canadian Achievement Awards. In 1999, Salmon was on the

Federation of Canadian Municipalities The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM, ''Fédération canadienne des municipalités'') is an advocacy group representing over 2000 Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence ...

's honour roll. Salmon was also awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

in 2012, the

(OOnt) in 2016 and became a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

(CM) in the

2018 Canadian honours The following are the appointments to various Canadian Honours System, Canadian Honours of 2018. Usually, they are announced as part of the New Year and Canada Day celebrations and are published within the Canada Gazette during year. This follows t ...

External links

Beverley Salmon's archives
are held at the

Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections Clara may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Clara'' (2018 film), a Canadian sci-fi drama * ''Clara'' (2019 film), a Ukrainian animated fantasy film * ''Clara'' (TV series), a German TV series * Clara the Cow, mascot of the Greek TV show '' P ...

York University Libraries York University Libraries (YUL) is the library system of York University in Toronto, Ontario. The four main libraries and one archives contain more than 2,500,000 volumes. History The first York library opened in 1961 at Glendon College and ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Beverley 1930 births 2023 deaths Black Canadian politicians Black Canadian women Canadian people of Jamaican descent Canadian women nurses Members of the Order of Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Metropolitan Toronto councillors University of Toronto alumni Canadian nurses