Bajan donates $20m to university

by TONY BEST A WEALTHY BAJAN-CANADIAN who routinely extols the virtues of his late pioneering Barbadian mother has just given a major Canadian university one of its largest bequests.

Frank Baylis, a former Liberal party parliamentarian in Ottawa, who earlier this year came close to being elected leader of the ruling Liberal Party and would have been become Canada’s newest prime minister had he been victorious, has donated CAN$20 million to the University of Waterloo in Ontario, his alma mater. The gift honours his mother, Gloria Baylis, and will help advance education and access to health care innovation across Canada.

At the same time, the funds will be used to further push the university’s limits in technology and acknowledge the legacy of Dr Pearl Sullivan, the first female dean of the university’s School of Engineering. She was described as “a force of nature” who re-imagined studies in (civil) engineering at Waterloo.

“Like my mother Gloria (Clarke-Baylis), Pearl’s drive and vision expanded opportunities for people to realise their potential and dreams,” Baylis said at a ceremony announcing the large donation. “Pearl’s career and achievements deserve celebration, and this space (the building housing the engineering department) is testament to her work in advancing education.” The building has since been renamed in Sullivan’s honour.

Baylis, executive chairman of the board of directors of Baylis Medical Technologies, a firm his mother founded in her home in Montreal more than 40 years ago to pursue successful entrepreneurial ventures, came in fourth in the Liberal Party’s national contest this year to choose a leader who eventually succeeded Justin Trudeau, the then prime minister.

Actually, the donation to Waterloo was made by the Gloria Baylis Foundation which was created to help advance social causes which improved people’s lives. It has given away millions of dollars to deserving causes.

Gloria Clarke, the matriarch of the Baylis family, was born in Bridgetown to Antoinette Margaret and Reynold Clarke in the 1920s. She is a scion of two well-known Bajan families, the Millers and the Clarkes. The former was headed by the late Freddie Miller, an original member of Barbados’ first Cabinet formed in the 1950s.

His daughter, Dame Billie Miller, was Barbados’ first female Cabinet minister and served in both houses of Parliament for more than 35 years, rising to be Deputy Prime Minister.

The Clarkes, on the other hand, are often credited with making significant contributions to Barbados’ development through their work, social and economic activism, and advocacy.

Robert ‘Bobby’ Clarke was an attorney and a well-known voice for the poor, while June Clarke became the first woman to lead the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, before becoming the island’s top diplomat in Canada and Ambassador to the United Nations.

Gloria has the distinction of being the first person in Canada’s long history to have successfully sued a corporate giant, the Hilton Hotel of Canada, for discriminating against black people because of their colour.

She had sought a job at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal but was told the position was filled. However, subsequent investigations showed that when she applied, the job was still wide open. The inaccurate information was seen as an illegal ruse to deny a black woman employment because of her race, in contravention of a new 1964 law that barred racial discrimination in employment.

Those who know the families’ history in Barbados and Canada said Gloria, son Frank and others were “fighters” for social justice, and upward economic and social mobility, and did not take no for an answer.

That wasn’t all. She launched a company that proved highly successful in the medical technology field in North America and when it was sold, it reportedly fetched more than CAN$1 billion.

FRANK BAYLIS (FP)

GLORIA BAYLIS (FP)