Don Oliver was a class act, and will be missed

Don Oliver grew up in the only Black family in Wolfville, N.S., and lived through racism. His grandparents fled slavery in the United States, and Oliver once told The Hill Times that he was raised to 'work hard, be humble, love the Lord, and do all you can to help other people.' He gave it his best shot.

Then deputy Senate Speaker Don Oliver, pictured in 2012: 'Being a Black man in the Senate afforded me countless opportunities to promote tolerance, fairness, and equality, both in Canada and abroad, that I would not have otherwise had,' he told The Hill Times in 2021. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

Opinion

BY EDITORIAL

October 13, 2025

Former Nova Scotia Conservative Senator Donald Oliver, who was Canada's first Black man appointed to the Senate in 1990 by then-Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, died on Sept. 17 at the age of 86. He served in the Upper Chamber from 1990 until he retire...

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