Zanana Akande served as a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.
23 Facts About Zanana Akande
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Zanana Akande was the first woman from the African Diaspora elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and the first Black woman to serve as a cabinet minister in Canada.
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Zanana Akande was born in downtown Toronto in the Kensington Market district.
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Zanana Akande's parents came from St Lucia and Barbados, where they had worked as teachers.
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Zanana Akande attended Harbord Collegiate before studying at the University of Toronto.
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Zanana Akande attended the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
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Zanana Akande was a longtime member of the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario.
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Zanana Akande was a co-founder of Tiger Lily, a newspaper for visible minority women, and once co-hosted a Toronto Arts Against Apartheid Festival.
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Zanana Akande was a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in her youth and was friends with future NDP leader Stephen Lewis and his siblings, and was a longtime member of its successor, the New Democratic Party.
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Zanana Akande was married to Isaac Zanana Akande, who died of cancer in 1991.
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Zanana Akande won the riding in a tight three-way race between incumbent Liberal Ron Kanter and Conservative candidate Nancy Jackman.
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Zanana Akande was the first black woman elected as an Ontario MPP.
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Zanana Akande announced $1.1 million in funding for food banks in an apparent contradiction to NDP policy against supporting such agencies.
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Zanana Akande recognized that the realities of the time meant the food banks were a necessity.
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In 1991, Zanana Akande was caught in an apparent conflict of interest situation.
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On October 10,1991, Zanana Akande resigned as minister due to an accusation of rent-gouging in properties she owned in Toronto.
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Zanana Akande continued as a parliamentary assistant until August 31,1994, when she resigned from the Legislature in protest against Rae's handling of the Carlton Masters controversy.
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Zanana Akande is a member of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.
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Zanana Akande was a founding member board of directors of Milestone Radio, owners of Canada's first urban music radio station, Flow 93.5 in Toronto.
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In January 2018, Zanana Akande attended and spoke at the 2018 Women's March in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.
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In May 2018, Zanana Akande was honored with the YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction Award.
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In October 2020, Zanana Akande endorsed Annamie Paul in the Toronto Centre by-election.
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In 2024, Zanana Akande was made a Member of the Order of Ontario.