Feminist Fact – First Wave Warriors

How many Canadians have heard of the Persons Case? How many Canadians have heard of The Famous Five? I know the answer for me is I have heard of both, however I was not taught about either in my elementary or secondary school history classes. It was not until I began post-secondary education that I heard about either, so my goal here is to provide some basic information for my readers on who the Famous Five are and what the Persons Case is. 

The Famous Five was a group of five Canadian women from Alberta, Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney an Irene Parlby, who paved a political path for Canadian women. These women brought about the Persons Case, which lobbied for women to be considered persons under Canada’s constitution. Their efforts began in 1927 when the group of women petitioned the government asking if women were included under the term “persons” in Section 24 of the British North America Act; the answer was no. What this meant was women could not be appointed to the senate, and it was crucial that women be able to have a place in the senate in order to have equity. The women took further action by appealing to the Judicial Committee of England’s Privy Council in 1929 (this was the highest court of appeals for Canada at the time). The Privy Council decided on October 18, 1929 that the word persons in Section 24 of the BNA would include both men and women.

Political victory came about for Canadian women in 1929 thanks to the efforts of the Famous Five. Without their effort who knows what the future of women in government would look like. I find it disheartening that I was only introduced to these women and this case in my post-secondary education; these women had a major influence on Canadian history and need more recognition in both elementary and secondary education. I guess it is true what they say: history is his-story, not her-story.  

These women have helped me to begin shaping my feminism in a few ways:

1.  I have the opportunity to live in a generation where I do not need to fight to be considered a person under the law, so to them I am thankful for providing this luxury to me.
   
2. I have the ability to fight for causes I believe in because they are an image of encouragement to me; if they can do it I can do it.
   
3. If feminism is about standing up for a cause and battling through until you get what not only you, but all women, truly deserve, then count me in as a feminist!

Resources: Library and Archives Canada 

©2011, Zain Alglaieny