Dr. Beverley Noel Salmon was born in Toronto to a Jamaican father and a fifth generation Canadian mother of Scottish/Irish descent. Being the first baby born that Christmas morning, Beverley received a layette from the Victorian Order of Nurses. She later became a V.O.N. Throughout her childhood and before Canadian citizenship was official, Beverley self-identified as Jamaican and  was  teased and name called.

Bev was the first black woman elected to Municipal Council in Toronto, serving on North York Council 1985-88. Her first motion changed “Alderman “to “Councillor”.