Roosevelt Douglas

The Hon. Roosevelt ("Rosie") Bernard Douglas (15 October 1941 – 1 October 2000), was a black power activist, human rights agitator and international statesman. In 2000 he became the fifth Prime Minister of the Caribbean island of Dominica holding the office for eight months, from 3 February 2000 until his sudden death later that year at the age of 58.

Rosie Douglas was the son of the late Robert Bernard Douglas, a wealthy businessman, coconut farmer, and conservative politician who named his boys after world statesmen (he had brothers named Eisenhower, Atlee, and Adenauer).

He was schooled in Dominica's capital, Roseau, before being accepted to study agriculture at the Ontario Agricultural College in Kingston, Ontario Canada. However, after growing frustrated with the bureaucratic delays in obtaining his visa to enter Canada, he made a phone call to then Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker.

Mr. Diefenbaker was able to assist Douglas, 18 at the time, and sent local MP Bruce Robinson to collect him at the airport. Douglas became involved in politics as a member of the young Conservative Party of Canada, under the guidance of the right honourable John Diefenbaker. Upon completing his studies in Agriculture, he moved to Montreal where he enrolled in political science at Sir George Williams University.

While attending Sir George, Douglas who worked as a teachers assistant in the Political Science Department, became President of the Conservative Student Union becoming friends with Canadian student leaders including Pierre Trudeau and Rene Levesque.

Douglas used his platform within the Tory Party to advocate on behalf of Caribbean woman who came to Canada under the domestic scheme, better housing conditions for blacks living in substandard conditions particularly in North Preston, Nova Scotia equal employment opportunities for blacks in Canada, and seeking to get the question of addressing racism in Canada on the Tory's national platform.

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