Council Chambers dedicated to country's first black mayor

Town of Mattawa
News Release

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The Mattawa Council Chambers were officially dedicated today to former mayor Dr. S.F. Monestime during a ceremony celebrating both the 100th anniversary of Monestime’s birth and the 125th anniversary of Mattawa.

When Monestime was first elected mayor in 1964, he made international news as Canada’s first black mayor. It was the beginning of a legacy that continued through the years as Monestime went on to develop the Algonquin Nursing Home and serve nine consecutive terms as mayor, a position he still held at the time of his death.

The story of what happened when a Black doctor from the Caribbean nation of Haiti on his way to Timmins from Ottawa stopped for lunch at the Chez Francois Restaurant in the Northern Ontario town of Mattawa in 1951 is local legend.

“Dr. Monestime thought they were going to challenge him when he entered the restaurant but what did happen eventually led to his historical election as the mayor of Mattawa twelve years later. His election was national and international news at the time,” explained regional historian Doug Mackey, whose book Where Rivers Meet chronicles Monestime’s life.

The owner of the Chez Francois Restaurant had been a patient of Dr. Monestime’s in Ottawa and was eventually able to convince him to stay in Mattawa as a replacement for a long serving Mattawa doctor who had recently died and was proving hard to replace. The town leaders welcomed Dr. Monestime and he stayed on as the town’s highly respected doctor, before being elected town councillor in 1962 and becoming mayor the following year. The rest, as they say, is history.

“Dr. Monestime has had a huge impact on the fabric of our community and it is an honour for us to pay tribute to his lasting legacy by dedicating our council chambers to his memory,” explained Mattawa Mayor Dean Backer.

The Mattawa Town Council has another tribute planned, in addition to naming the council chambers after Dr. Monestime, they will also be renaming Main Street from the Trans Canada corner to the Mattawa River bridge "Monestime Way" with special signs being erected reflecting this honour.

“Our father was a good man who really cared for this community in a selfless way and I know that he would be flattered and humbled by the honours bestowed upon him today,” said Vala Belter, Administrator of Mattawa’s Algonquin Nursing Home, and daughter of Dr. S.F. Monestime.

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