Labour Department and Public Service Alliance of Canada

James Calbert Best: He was Canada first black deputy minister in the federal Labour Department, and served in several other federal departments, according to The Chronicle Herald. He later became Canada first black high commissioner, or ambassador, representing this country in Trinidad and Tobago. The Cal Best Project celebrates the achievements of James Calbert Best, a human rights and labour activist, a champion of immigration and also of amateur sport, and one of the architects of what is now the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Born and raised in New Glasgow, he was the son of Albert and Carrie Best, the latter known for her fight against racism, largely through the Clarion, a newspaper founded by mother and son dedicated to covering news of the area black community. He went to Ottawa in 1949 as a government bureaucrat, where he continued to break racial barriers. Racism prevented him from becoming a professional athlete, so Best studied journalism and political science at University of King College in Halifax . At 20, he covered the 1946 Viola Desmond case in New Glasgow for the Clarion, a story credited with raising national and international awareness about racial segregation in Canada, and with kick-starting the effort to end it. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.