Edward Oliver Le Blanc, Chief Minister and Premier of Dominica from 1961 to 1974, has died at the age of 81. He was among that generation of Caribbean leaders who are associated with an era of major social and political change among the former British colonies of the Eastern Caribbean and of being pioneers of self-government in their island states. Le Blanc was born at the village of Vieille Case on the north coast of Dominica on 3 October 1923. He was educated at the Vieille Case government school and took a course in agriculture at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad in 1944.
     
     He later studied on his own for the London Matriculation Certificate obtained in 1948.He worked in the Dominica civil service as Agricultural Instructor 1945-1953 and was later employed by the Dominica Banana Growers Association (DBGA) as agent in the northern district. He served during this time as nominated and then elected member of the Vieille Case Village Council. In his spare time he wrote poetry, some of which was published in an anthology in the US in 1947. In 1949 he married his wife Ethel who also came from Vieille Case. They had five children, four sons and one daughter: Ewart, Erin, Einstar, Earlsworth and Eustace. Ethel must be credited with standing by her beloved husband through thick and thin, helping to raise a family in the midst of intense political activity and providing comfort, stability and support to her husband throughout it all. In spite of being best known as a political leader, Le Blanc was perhaps most content farming, fishing and writing poetry. However these pleasures were set aside in his belief that he should serve his country and its people.
     
     THE LABOUR PARTY
     In 1957 Edward Le Blanc joined Dominica Labour Party (DLP), which had been founded two years earlier by Phyllis Allfrey and E.C Loblack. Le Blanc contested the general elections of that year and won the Portsmouth seat in the Legislative council. The following year he resigned his seat to contest the Federal Elections, and along with Phyllis Allfrey, represented Dominica in the Federal Parliament of the West Indies. In 1960 he resigned from the Federal Parliament to contest the local Dominica general elections of 17th January 1961. He led the DLP to its first victory, winning the Roseau South constituency, becoming Chief Minister and Minister of Finance. His mass following across the island was clearly shown in his ability to win a seat in the four elections he contested during his career in constituencies as divers as Portsmouth, Roseau South and the North Western district, centred on Colihaut. In the aftermath of the collapse of the WI Federation in May 1962 he participated in all of the conferences in the Caribbean and London attempting to save a federation of "the little eight" islands which were left after Jamaica and Trinidad went independent. Finally, when all else failed, he attended the Lancaster House Conference in London in April of 1966 which agreed on a constitution to make Dominica a self-governing Associated State on 1st March 1967. He became the island's first Premier. Since 1965 he had established 3rd November as Dominica's National Day. The festivities of Statehood in 1967 were held on that date and when full political independence was achieved in 1978, the 3rd November was the date selected for its inauguration. In respect of his work towards the achievement of self-government, he is now increasingly referred to as 'The Father of The Nation'. It was perhaps fitting that he died on Creole Day, an event that grew out of his original ideas of National Day.
     
     HERO IN THE CROWD
     From 1968 political pressure upon Le Blanc increased with the formation of The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) out of remnants of old Dominica United People's Party (DUPP). This was as a result of controversy over legislation aimed at silencing criticism of government by the press, which was passed by the DLP. In spite of this, Le Blanc's widespread popularity in the countryside rode triumphant. He was associated with the great social, economic and infrastructural changes that swept Dominica during the 1960's. The regional banana boom, Colonial Development & Welfare (CDW) funded projects of roads, clinics, schools, water and electricity services and the tide of change sweeping the Caribbean had much to with this, and locally, Le Blanc was identified with leading these achievements. Analysts have argued that most of the projects that were completed in the early 1960s had been set in motion during the 1950s by earlier administrations, but the people identified them with Le Blanc and the Labour Party after 1961. However it is clear that major projects after 1964 were those of the DLP' own making. Le Blanc is perhaps even more revered in the popular memory for championing the cause of "the little man" against what he saw to be the strangle hold of the old Roseau-based elite, the 'gwo boug', 'gen milatre' and 'gen l'habitation'. He encouraged local talent in all fields, and folk culture in particular, all of which made him the hero of the hour. His belief in opening up educational opportunities for all provided a new generation of Dominicans with the skills to take up the task of building their country in all fields. He also is credited with providing a feeling of hope and inclusion for a people who for generations had felt excluded from the mainstream of involvement in the island's affairs. However certain commentators have been critical of his manner of achieving these changes, claiming that it was acrimonious and divisive, that it lowered standards, and left a legacy of bitterness, paranoia and 'victimhood' that impacted long-term damage on the building of a cohesive modern society up to the present day.
     In spite of this, he shared the adulation that came to his other colleagues in the Eastern Caribbean during that same period as 'heroes in the crowd', their names prefixed with 'Papa' and 'Uncle': the mass popular following for Premiers such as Bradshaw of St.Kitts, Bramble of Montserrat, Bird of Antigua, Joshua of St. Vincent, Compton of St.Lucia and Gairy of Grenada. Together with these pioneers of Caribbean self-government, Le Blanc, who was always a supporter of regional unity, forged the establishment of CARIFTA, which grew into CARICOM.
     
     RETIREMENT
     But in 1970 his leadership was challenged by members of his own Cabinet who ousted him from the DLP. However Le Blanc's popularity was such, that running with his loyal supporters under the banner of the "Le Blanc Labour Party" and changing the party symbol from the 'hat' to the 'shoe', he comfortably won the 1970 general elections. By 1973 however, faced with protest demonstrations over another attempt at regional integration, this time with Guyana, and conflicts with the DFP, as well as strikes by the Civil Service Association (CSA) supported by other trade unions, Le Blanc was becoming weary of leadership. In July 1974 he resigned the position of Premier. He made it clear that he had told his executive since 1967 that he was going to do so. The Premiership went to Patrick R. John. Le Blanc retired to his home at Vieille Case at the early age of 50. He emerged in 1977 to be a delegate at the Constitutional Conference at Marlborough House, London, to chart the way for Dominica's political Independence. He appeared at his last National Day parade in Roseau in 1980 where he presented the Le Blanc Trophy that he had donated to be awarded to groups and organisations. In 1983 he served on the Constitutional Review Commission. He then withdrew completely from public life and concentrated on farming and being with his family. He died peacefully at his home at Au Parc, Vieille Case, on the morning of 29 October 2004.
     
     Acknowledgement:
     Lennox Honychurch's Dominica: Art. Culture. History & Resources
     Sir Raglan's Occasional Newsletter