By RON FANFAIR
Clarence Bayne might not have been a familiar name outside Quebec.
Leaving Trinidad & Tobago in 1955 to pursue higher education in Canada, the plan was to acquire a PhD and return home ‘to get a government job to help change the order of things in the country’.
That did not occur.
After completing undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of British Columbia, Bayne accepted a job in Montreal as a trainee economist with the Canadian National Railway (CNR) in 1964.
“I soon realized that the job was in one of the most racist sectors and there was pressure for changes,” he told me in an interview in February 2022. “At the time, CNR was heavily subsidized by the government that owned the company. With Canada moving towards becoming a multicultural society, the government had to show it was not racist. I think that worked in my favour in terms of getting a job there.”
Quickly becoming part of the movement advocating for change, Bayne remained in Canada and was a prominent activist and community organizer in Montreal’s Black community.
He died on September 1 at age 91.
Gemma Raeburn-Baynes migrated from Grenada to Quebec’s largest city the same year Bayne arrived in Montreal.
“He was part of my life for six decades,” said the 2024 CBC Black Changemaker. “His unwavering dedication to the Black community of Montreal has left an indelible mark on all of us. Through his advocacy, leadership and commitment to equity, he worked tirelessly to uplift and empower those around him. I will remember him not only as a brilliant mind and a strong voice for change, but as someone who deeply cared for the growth and progress of our people.
“His legacy will continue to inspire us for generations.”
National Film Board of Canada publicist Patricia Dillon-Moore met Bayne over four decades ago.
“To me, he was Judy and Patrice’s father, the man from ‘De Black’ community,” said the former CKUT 90.3 Station Manager. “But to say that he ‘worked’ in the Black community is an understatement. Clarence worked for the community. His primary focus was the Black community but, by extension, Montreal which was his home. As time passed, community for him meant the world around him. He was fully aware that if you did your part in the world, it would have a ripple effect on the larger world.”
“Dillon-Moore said Bayne was a builder, artist and verbal force.
“By the early 2000s, he could say thank you in under four minutes,” she added. “Before then, he could keep you on the phone engaged in an ‘ole talk’ or meetings for hours.
“He was a writer, an educator and a visionary. Stubborn at times and set in his ways, he was also my mentor and friend. We strategized with many people, ate many meals together and drank everywhere. Many times, we were three with author Fred Anderson, but in the latter years, it continued to be us two.”
Retired Toronto Catholic District School Board educator Kirk Mark, who completed high school in Montreal before coming to Toronto, said Bayne laid a solid platform in the community.
“He was a trailblazer in education and community in many aspects,” said the former Canadian Alliance of Black Educators president. “He will be missed.”
Former East Scarborough Boys & Girls Club’s executive director Ron Rock spent 21 years in Montreal before relocating to Toronto in 1990.
“Clarence was a leader who put in the time to see his community advance,” he said. “He was a stalwart in Montreal’s Black community.”
Finishing his PhD in Economics & Econometrics at McGill University in 1966, Bayne joined Sir George Williams University’s John Molson School of Business (now Concordia) where he spent over 58 years before retiring in 2016.
“I saw him standing up for others, including me,” said Anne-Marie Croteau who is the first female Dean of the John Molson School of Business. “His thoughtfulness and consideration for others will always be remembered.”
Bayne taught Statistics, Quantitative Methods and Decision Sciences prior to becoming a full Professor in 2001. The Director of the Diploma in Administration/Diploma in Sports Administration program for 15 years until 2006, his research focused on the social, political, economic and institutional life and development of marginalized communities in Quebec.
“Clarence was not only an academic,” said Roland Wills, a former Associate Dean and Decision Sciences Professor in the Faculty of Commerce and Administration at the John Molson School of Business. “He was an artist, a Black community stalwart, an innovator and, above all, a loving and caring family man. His contributions to the Black community in Canada are immense.”
Bayne was in the thick of things during Canada’s largest student occupation at Sir George Williams University.
Suspecting unfair grading by their Biology professor, six Caribbean students lodged a protest in 1968 with the university that agreed to establish a committee to investigate the allegations. Eight months after the matter wasn’t resolved, nearly 400 students occupied the computer lab on the university’s ninth floor.
During the 14-day protest, they destroyed about $2 million in computer equipment.
Bayne briefly sat on a six-member university committee that investigated the students’ charges before resigning because of what he thought was a conflict of interest.
“They asked me and the late Chet Davis (the American Professor taught History at the university), who was a supporter of the Martin Luther King Jr. movement in the United States at the time, to be on the committee and we took the opportunity,” he said. “We felt that we could provide the students with a more favourable evaluation of their case. It was also an opportunity for us to be seen as important people in the university.”
The historic student revolt, Bayne said, was a wake-up call.
“It excited and energized Blacks across Canada who experienced racism in many sectors and complained about it in vain,” he said. “They felt empowered to act which was a good feeling.”
In 1971, Bayne co-founded the Black Theatre Workshop (BTW) which is Canada’s longest-running theatre company reflecting Black culture and community by developing and providing visibility for Black Canadian artists.
It emerged from the Trinidad & Tobago Association Drama Committee.
“A large part of Clarence’s soul was dedicated to the arts and culture,” said Dillon-Moore. “What started as an idea among friends in an apartment in the McGill ghetto grew into a significant cultural institution in Canada where it is Canada’s oldest Black theatre company. As the BTW’s first artistic director, Clarence’s vision laid the foundation for countless actors, writers and directors from across Canada who passed through its doors. He directed some of the plays, wore red leotards in a production and kept everyone focused on what this platform for Black self-expression could be. Today, BTW continues to produce work that resonates across Quebec and beyond.”
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Anthony Sherwood met ‘Clary’, as he affectionately called him, in 1975 when BTW was still in its infancy.
“I was amazed by his dedication and ability to bring together artists from different Black backgrounds to tell stories,” he said. “He was determined to let the voices of those different Black communities be heard in Montreal.”
Sherwood acted in one of the theatre’s early plays, ‘Dance Bongo’
“I played a dancer and we were short of one of them,” he said. “Clarence, who was the president at the time, put on dance tights and filled the breach. He did anything to make the organization survive. He was a cultural icon, trailblazer and someone who was proud of his culture and Caribbean background.”
At Expo 67 in Montreal, Bayne co-managed the Trinidad & Tobago concession stand alongside several community stalwarts, including Shirley Whittaker who is the wife of the late Carl Whittaker who – with Bayne – co-founded the Black Community Council of Quebec (BCCC).
His fingerprints are all over many Black community organizations in Montreal.
In addition to co-founding the BTW and the BCCC where he worked with community leaders to create the Monkland Community Centre, he was involved with the Black Community Council of Quebec and served as a board member for the Quebec Board of Black Educators, the Quebec Community Group Network, the Queen Elizabeth Health Complex and the Black Studies Centre.
In 1972, Bayne established the National Black Coalition of Canada Research Institute, an organization mandated to conduct research and increase the creative and productive capacity in Black communities across Canada.
He also lobbied for changes within the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal (PSBGM) when it was discovered that very few Black students who graduated from high school in the city were going on to university and he played a pivotal role in Canada’s contribution to the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria.
Police accountability was a concerning issue that Bayne vigorously tackled.
Over many decades, he spoke out against the Montreal Police’s unfair treatment of Blacks in the province.
Last month, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that racial profiling is a systemic problem in the Montreal Police Service and awarded damages in a class action lawsuit that advocates said is ‘a decision that meets with reality’.
Filed five years ago, the suit stems from a 2017 incident in which police stopped Alexandre Lamontage after he left a bar.
Pinned to the ground, handcuffed and taken to the station, he was charged with obstructing police work and assaulting a police officer.
The charges were dropped, but Lamontage was issued three tickets for making noise, continuing to do so and not walking on a sidewalk. After viewing video footage of the encounter, a judge sided with Lamontagne’s version of events, rejecting claims by officers that they were courteous in their interaction with him.
Bayne, who joined community leaders in petitioning Montreal Mayor Jean Dore in the early 1990s to institute Black History Month, would have been proud of the outcome.
“The police have made the life of Black people uncomfortable,” he said. “They have always argued that their lives are threatened and they had to use force. That put Black people in a position where they didn’t even get the protection that they needed. Now, the police don’t get away with it as they used to and that can be attributed to the effective strike back from the Black community.
“Black Lives Matter is a part of that resistance. They have had a transgenerational impact.”
Based on feedback from Trinbagonians who had gone to England to attend university, Bayne – who completed high school at Osmond which was founded by Arthur Murray – chose to study in Canada.
“The feedback we got from students who went to England was not encouraging,” he said. “They complained about racism, poor housing and the lack of central heating. I didn’t have a government scholarship which meant I had to work part-time during the summer. I heard that was not easily accessible.”
Pursuing higher learning in the United States was not an option because of the high cost.
Bayne’s fees to complete undergraduate and master’s degrees at UBC in five years were about $6,000.
“I shared living accommodation with four other T & T students and we each contributed about $50 to rent monthly and that helped,” he said.
The same year – 1960 – that Bayne completed his master’s in economics & political science at UBC, there were major changes in Canada’s immigration laws that placed more emphasis on academic and occupational skills and opened doors for Blacks and other people of colour.
The country was also enjoying economic stability and prosperity.
A UBC Professor, who was a consultant to the Canadian government, recruited Bayne to apply for a job as a trainee economist with CNR.
“He basically wrote the application for me,” he said.
Bayne was a mentor to hundreds of young people, including Sommer Knight who was the inaugural recipient of the 2021 Audrea Golding Black Student Leadership Award.
“He truly helped me to learn that I too as a Black woman have a voice in the field of medicine,” she said. “It was an honour to work with him and the BRCR for the Living History Project. He opened doors for so many, including myself and he always supported me with reference letters whenever I needed one. I would not have gotten the scholarships I have now without his guidance and support.”
Among his many honours are the Governor General’s Award for the Arts and the Black Theatre Workshop’s Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
Bayne was predeceased by his wife of 61 years, British-born Frances Ward, who died in August 2021.
They met in the late 1950s while she vacationed in British Columbia.
The couple had two children.
Patrice Bayne is an Informational Technology specialist at the John Molson School of Business and Judy Palmer is a senior communications executive.
