The Hon. Rosemary BROWN

Rosemary Brown came to Canada in the early 1950s to attend McGill University in Montréal. First elected to the British Columbia legislature in 1972, she served until her retirement in 1986. She was also the first African-Canadian woman to run for the leadership of a national party. In the 1974 New Democratic Party leadership race, Rosemary Brown finished a close second to winner Ed Broadbent on the fourth and final ballot.

A dedicated advocate of women’s rights and a social activist, Rosemary Brown dedicated her life to helping others. From 1993 to 1996, she served her fellow citizens as the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and was a founding member of the Vancouver Status of Women Council and the Canadian Women's Foundation. She was named to the Order of Canada in 1996. In the course of her career, she was also a member of the Judicial Council of British Columbia and sat on the Canadian Security Intelligence Review Committee. Rosemary Brown died in 2003, at the age of 72.