She won a landmark discrimination case in Canada. An exhibit and play honour her legacy

She is described as an inspirational hero of alexandria who changed canadian river labour jurisprudence forever and a day.

But the story of Montrealer Gloria Baylis isn’t a swell known one. 

A new exhibit at the SANAAQ centre is seeking to lift the veil on Baylis’s accomplishments and her dogged fight in the 1960s for her rights and the rights of Canadians.

“When I was in law school and when people would mention the name Gloria Baylis, people would jokingly refer to her as the ‘badass woman’,” said Allen Alexandre, founder of the Montreal Afro-Canadian Cultural Centre, which is presenting the exhibit. 

Baylis was a Black nurse from Barbados, trained in England with experience at Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal hospital. 

On Sept. 2, 1964 — one day after the Act respecting discrimination in employment was introduced in Quebec — Baylis showed up to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel to apply for a part-time nurse position.

She was told the job was filled. 

Soon, Baylis would learn through a friend that that wasn’t the truth. 

When Baylis phoned the hotel the next day to inquire about the position, she was told it remained open.

Believing what happened was unfair, Baylis filed a complaint under the new Act  against the hotel’s operator, Hilton of Canada and, on Oct. 4, 1965, she won. 

It was the first Canadian case where an institution was found guilty of job discrimination based on race.

The hotel fought the ruling for more than a decade but it was upheld. 

“This is someone who decided to go to court, sue the Hilton, which is a multinational – very, very powerful – but for 11 years decided not to give up,” explained Alexandre. 

After all the years of legal fights, the hotel was fined just $25 dollars. But Alexandre said Baylis understood it was about much more than money. 

“This was never about money. This was really about making a statement and standing up for what's right,” Alexandre said. 

How one woman’s fight over a Montreal hotel job made civil rights history: the Gloria Baylis story

The exhibit, which runs until March 8, also features stories of other Black people who fought or suffered discrimination in Montreal before Baylis, including the story of Barbados’s premier.

In 1954, Grantley Adams had a reservation made at the Windsor Hotel on his behalf by an airline. But when he arrived at the hotel, he was told there was a mixup and was sent to a cheaper one, according to a newspaper clipping. Adams didn’t say anything, but the airline investigated upon getting billed by a different hotel and advised the Canadian government. 

“If you look at the exhibition, you're going to notice there's an entire history of other people that have actually gone to court, trying to challenge the existing laws of the practices and the norms in our society that never really won their cases,” Alexandre said.

“I think this was a victory for all the people who fought before [Baylis] who never really got justice in the way that they felt they should have gotten it.” 

The life and achievements of Baylis are also being honoured in a play which first premiered in Brampton, Ont., last year and is coming to Collège Beaubois in the Montreal suburb of Pierrefonds, Que., on Feb. 28.

Breaking Barriers: The Gloria Baylis play was put together by Denée Rudder, a journalist turned playwright.  

“Her story and stories like Gloria's are important because it reminds us that we didn't always have these rights,” Rudder said. “People before us had to fight for these rights, because of injustices, because of discrimination, and they weren't tolerating that.” 

Baylis’s eldest son says he hopes the exhibit helps Canadians understand that battles like his mom’s are still ongoing. 

He hopes her story inspires others to fight for their rights and the rights of others. 

“It's always good to see someone like my mother or other great pioneers say, ‘OK, I'm not the only person that's had to go through this challenge in life’,” Frank Baylis said. 

“My mother was a very, very strong person. She stood up for her rights. She taught us to stand up for our rights. But also to help other people stand up for their rights.” 

Baylis went on to create Baylis Medical Technologies, now a multibillion dollar company — a testament of her determination to fight for what she believes in.

Journalist

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