New documentary tells Jean Augustine's story
April 25, 2022
Public service and civic engagement have been the hallmarks of Jean Augustine’s rich life captured in a documentary that premiered on April 2.
Fahim Hamid Ai directed and produced ‘Steadfast: The Messenger and The Message’, a 57-minute film that screened at the Scotiabank Toronto Theatre.
It includes interviews with Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau, Grenadian PM Keith Mitchell who is a cousin of Augustine, Jennifer Hosten who was the first woman of colour to win the Miss World beauty pageant in 1970, British actor Joseph Marcell and Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist Freddy Will.
“This documentary captures the essence of who our mom is,” said Augustine’s daughter, Cheryl Augustine-Kanu, who is Grenada’s Ambassador to Belgium.
Her older daughter, Valerie Augustine, is the documentary’s lead co-ordinator.
Living a life of service, engagement and collaboration, said Augustine, has been most satisfying in the journey that begun in Happy Hill in Grenada and led her to Parliament Hill as Canada’s first Black female parliamentarian in 1993.
“You cannot change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust your sail,” she said. “You owe it to others to live a life of service and engagement. You should not walk pass the errors of this world without some participation, commentary or some way in which you can do better.”
Augustine, a member of the Order of Ontario and Canada, chose the film’s subtitle, ‘The Messenger and the Message’.
Jean Augustine and director/producer Fahim Hamid Ali (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Canada was the first country in the world to pass a national multiculturalism law.
While serving as Secretary of State with responsibility for Multiculturalism, Augustine attended a European Parliament meeting nearly two decades ago to explain why Canada adopted a Multiculturalism Act.
After she had concluded her speech, one of the parliamentarians noted, ‘We have here the messenger and we have here the message’.
“I brought the message of Canada and that is reflected in who I am,” added Augustine who came to Canada in 1960 under the West Indian Domestic Scheme (WIDS) program. “That I can come here as a domestic, work in the home of a Canadian family, find myself as an advocate and an activist in the society and push the agenda in several ways means a lot. That is the message of Canada. So this story is the immigrant story and no different from all of the stories that are out there.”
Mark Beckles, RBC’s Vice-President responsible for Social Impact & Innovation, said the financial institution is proud to sponsor the documentary of Augustine’s life journey.
“Her contribution to civil society is immense,” the former Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (Canada) Chief Executive Officer noted. “It is a long record as we saw this evening. It is unmatched and it is venerable. It is often too rare that we express sincere thanks for servant leaders during their lifetime. This is my opportunity to express gratitude to a life that has been unselfishly lived, for talent that has been unselfishly shared, for justice relentlessly pursued and friendship both boundless and authentic.”
RBC also supports the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York University. Through the RBC Future Launch program, RBC has donated $1.2 million to advance the work of the Chair.
“This further extends the arc of our partnership and demonstrates our commitment to the curation of Jean’s legacy,” Beckles said.
Jean Augustine with Dr. Walter McNeilly who passed away in 2007 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Former Canadian PM Jean Chretien nominated Augustine as a Liberal candidate in the 1993 federal elections.
That didn’t sit well with many Etobicoke-Lakeshore constituents who favoured Patrick Lavelle who was an Ontario Deputy Minister in 1986.
“The people at the time in that riding didn’t want a Black woman,” said Toronto’s Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson who was part of the election campaign team. “They wanted him.”
Thompson was tasked with telling Lavelle that he wasn’t going to be given the opportunity to run in the riding.
“I had to go to his office to tell him that Jean Augustine was the person that Jean Chretien and others wanted to run in Etobicoke-Lakeshore,” he recalled. “To his credit, he took it well. Obviously we know that she was so accomplished prior to that. But we know that the leverage and the opportunity of her being an elected official and the changes that she brought in, as necessary as they were and are, may not have been.”
Thompson said Augustine, who defeated Conservative Patrick Boyer in the 1993 election by 5,152 votes, is a force of nature.
“Those are the three words that come to mind when I think of her,” said the 19-year council member. “She is someone who has transformed, helped and changed.”
Jean Augustine (c) with actor Joseph Marcell and Dr. Carl James who holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York University (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Elected to the federal parliament in 1988, Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua and Augustine were caucus colleagues and seatmates in the House of Commons.
“We were part of a group of people who cared about the human condition,” he said. “When you distill what you just saw into its essential core and you examine the actions of the protagonists, in this case Jean Augustine, you really understand that at the end of the day, the purpose of human existence is to improve the human condition. That requires clarity, purpose and your actions being perfectly aligned with your values, principles and beliefs. There are no shortcuts. The life of Jean Augustine essentially tells us that. Her journey has been one of giving for a greater cause.”
Two years ago, Bevilacqua presented Augustine with the Key to the City and announced that a park and complex in Vaughan will bear her name.
A park in Etobicoke and two schools in the Greater Toronto Area are also named after Augustine who, after completing her one-year WIDS contract, served as an elementary school teacher and Principal and Metro Toronto Housing Authority Chair before entering politics.
Jean Augustine was the first Black woman elected to the federal parliament (Photo contributed)
She represented the Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding for four terms prior to resigning from federal politics in 2006 to make way for former Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff.
As the first Black woman appointed to Cabinet when she was named Secretary of State with responsibility for Multiculturalism and the Status of Women, Augustine also filled the roles of Minister of State, Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole and Special Adviser for Grenada. She was Parliamentary Secretary to Chrétien, Chair of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Parliamentary Committee and a member of the parliamentary sub-committees on human rights, international trade, citizenship and immigration.
Jean Augustine (c) and motivational speakers Denise Bishop (l) & the late Joanna Parris were presented with Eagle Awards at the end of the two-day Women of Colour business conference in Toronto in September 2001 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
She was the Founding Chair of the Canadian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development and Chair of the National Liberal Women’s Caucus.
As a result of two motions she initiated, February was declared nationally as Black History Month and the Famous Five Statue received a home on Parliament Hill, giving recognition to the contributions of women and Blacks in Canada.
In addition, Augustine was the province’s first Fairness Commissioner appointed to advocate for foreign- trained professionals and ensure the credentials of internationally trained professionals are treated fairly.
She observed the historic 1994 South Africa elections in which all citizens were allowed to participate for the first time, served on the committee that helped organize the first Caribbean Carnival celebration in Toronto in 1967 and was a founding member of the Grenada Association of Toronto and the Congress of Black Women Toronto chapter.
Jean Augustine and late South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
In 2007, Augustine made a special gift of historically significant items to York University, including her parliamentary chair, robes and portrait from the House of Commons, photos, commemorative items, gifts and a collection of papers documenting her time as an elected representative which are archived in order to allow students and scholars’ access for research purposes.
That same year, she was appointed Chair of the Ontario Bicentenary Commemorative Committee of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.
Jean Augustine holds seven honourary degrees (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
The holder of seven honourary degrees set up a scholarship at George Brown College to encourage and assist single mothers in their decision to undertake post-secondary education, and supported the establishment of the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment launched eight years ago.
The documentary will screen at the Grenada Film Festival in December.
