State funeral planned for Lincoln Alexander, Canada's first black member of Parliament

TORONTO – A state funeral will be held next week for Canada's first black member of Parliament, former Ontario lieutenant-governor Lincoln Alexander.

Alexander died Friday at the age of 90. He became a member of Parliament in 1968 and served as Ontario's lieutenant-governor from 1985 to 1991.

His mother was born in Jamaica, his father in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Alexander was born in Toronto.

The Ontario provincial government said Saturday that a funeral is scheduled for next Friday in Alexander's hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.

A funeral procession on Sunday is to carry Alexander's body from Hamilton to the provincial legislature in Toronto, where he will lie in state until Monday night.

He leaves behind his wife Marni Beale, a son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.