Jean Alfred

Jean Alfred, Ph.D. (March 10, 1940 – July 20, 2015) was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the first Black person to be elected to the National Assembly of Quebec as a member of the Parti Québécois from 1976 to 1981.^[1]

Alfred was born in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, to Oracius Alfred and Prunelie Occean. He completed his college studies and some university courses at Port-au-Prince before moving to Ottawa, where he obtained a degree in philosophy from the University of Ottawa. He also received a master's degree in psycho-pedagogy as well as a Ph.D. in education.

Prior to his entry into politics, he taught for several years in Haiti and in the Outaouais region. He taught again after his political career and was a school board commissioner for the Commission Scolaire des Draveurs.

In 1975, he was elected as a councillor for Gatineau City Council and later entered provincial politics where he was elected in Papineau as a Parti Québécois candidate, becoming the first Black person to be elected to the National Assembly of Quebec. He served a full term as a PQ and Independent member but was defeated in the newly formed riding of Chapleau which portions were split from Gatineau and Papineau. He was a candidate again in 1989, but lost to the Liberal, John Kehoe. He made a brief attempt at federal politics but failed to become a Bloc Québécois prior to the 1997 elections.