Black History Month: Meet the first Black employee of OC Transpo

The city of Ottawa is celebrating 84-year-old Winston Cumberbatch, who became Ottawa’s first Black public transit bus driver in 1968.

Winston Cumberbatch, 84, is being recognized this month as the first Black employee of the Ottawa Transportation Commission, now known as OC Transpo.

To celebrate Black History Month, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe presented Cumberbatch with a Certificate of Recognition “for breaking barriers as the first Black bus operator and paving the way toward equality and representation at OC Transpo in the 1960s.”

“I never thought of that. I just did my job, really,” Cumberbatch told CTV News Ottawa. “I never thought I would have made such an impact.”

Born in Barbados, Cumberbatch started as a bus operator in 1968 at 25-years-old after moving to Ottawa from London, England. He says he applied for the job after riding a bus one evening.

“I said to myself, ‘I would love to do that,’” he said.

According to Cumberbatch, four months after the job interview, a manager told him, ‘we have checked you and I believe you’re the one that should start as our first black employee,’” he recalled.

“The rest is history.”

On what it was like to be the first Black employee of the Ottawa Transportation Commission, he says he felt “very comfortable.”

“There were some negative situations but it never bothered me that much really because I know who I am and the way I was brought up by my parents, I had that confidence that I would be an asset to the company,” he said.

He says he had excellent relationships with passengers and speaks positively about his time as a bus operator.

“I carried myself well. My uniform was always nice and clean, well pressed. I behaved myself wisely, and the management at supported me, really – I was told by the transportation manager, ‘we are 100 per cent behind you.’”

He says he enjoyed driving the bus.

“As a young man, to drive this big bus was a great responsibility,” he said.

He worked as a bus driver for 10 years, then as a supervisor for the next 20 until he retired in 1998.

“He’s a pioneer. He’s a fine gentleman. He’s a pastor now and contributing to our community in many ways,” Sutcliffe said.

“It was a very touching ceremony and opportunity for me to honor him and his family as a as a leader in our community and as the first Black employee, OC Transpo during Black History Month.”

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