Bill White (Canadian politician)

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Bill White
First Black Canadian MP candidate
Constituency	Spadina, 1949

Born	February 7, 1915 Truro, Nova Scotia
Died	January 22, 1981 (EST) New Zealand
Political party	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Children	Sheila White, Chris White
Residence	Scarborough, Ontario
Occupation	Composer
Religion	Baptist

For other people named Bill White , see Bill White.

For other people named William White, see William White.

William Andrew (Bill) White, Jr., O.C. (February 7, 1915 – January 22, 1981) was a Canadian composer and social justice activist, who was the first Black Canadian to run for federal office in Canada.

1 1949 Federal election
2 Order of Canada
3 Family history
4 Death
5 References and notes
6 See also

[edit] 1949 Federal election

He stood as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate in the electoral district of Spadina in the 1949 election, although he was not elected.

[edit] Order of Canada

Bill White was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 18, 1970. ^[1] He was invested into the Order on March 31, 1971. ^[1] The appointment was for "services to the community and his contribution to better relations and understanding between people of different racial background."^[1] Another honour he earned was the Scarborough Citizen of the Year in 1976.

[edit] Family history

He was the son of Baptist minister William A. White, the brother of famed Canadian opera singer Portia White and labour union leader Jack White, and the father of social activist and politician Sheila White and folk musician Chris White.

[edit] Death

Bill White died in New Zealand on January 23, 1981 local time ( January 22 in Toronto's Eastern Time Zone).

[edit] References and notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Honors, Order of Canada (HTML). Governor General of Canada Website. Governor General of Canada (2006-03-30). Retrieved on February 23, 2007.