Experiences
- if you didn't know better, you might think it was a retro girl band.
The term for women's activists comes from the word "suffrage", which means the right to vote in political elections. Although men began to vote for their political representatives way back in 1791, women were denied the opportunity for another century or so.
Hard to believe now, but back then, most people - many women included - figured that politics, like medicine and law, was a males-only pursuit.
But attitudes started to change in the second half of the 19th century when a few trailblazing women started to demonstrate that they were just as capable as men in carrying out jobs that had previously been off-limits to them.
Additional pressure came from women who were fighting to limit alcohol abuse and improve working conditions for factory workers. But without the
ability to vote, women were unable to exert much influence on politicians.
So in 1876, they started organizing to lobby for women's suffrage. It wasn't easy. In fact, it took another 40 years before Manitoba became the first jurisdiction in Canada to grant women the vote - white women, that is.
Most other provinces and the federal government
soon followed suit, although Quebec withheld the right until 1940.
Regrettably, Canada's laws continued to prevent Chinese-, Indo-, and Japanese- Canadians - both men and women - from voting until the late 1940s. And shockingly, aboriginal Canadians weren't permitted
to vote, unless they gave up their First Nations status, until 1960!
For early women activists, suffrage was just the start. They also began pressuring the federal government to appoint a woman to the Senate. But governments kept using the excuse that under Canadian law, only men were considered "persons", and only persons were eligible for important positions.
Are you amazed that such an argument could be made with
a straight face?
The Famous 5 were neither amazed nor amused!
If you've ever visited Calgary's Olympic Plaza or Parliament Hill in Ottawa, you may have seen the bigger-than-life statues of five lively women in turn-of-the-century garb, holding an impromptu outdoor tea party.
These women - known as the "Famous Five" were
used to being told to stick to their knitting and leave
the important things to men.
But Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards belonged to the
"I don't think so" club.
Smart and sassy, dedicated and determined, they petitioned the courts to change the law. Their fight
took them all the way to Britain for a final appeal.
On October 18, 1929, the highest court's final decision stated: "the exclusion of women from all public
offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours.
And to those who would ask why the word 'person' should include females, the obvious answer is,
why should it not?"
Canadian women have benefited from the
determination of the
Famous Five in countless ways
ever since. And now those courageous women are recognized as a symbol of all those who work to
promote women's equality.
In their name, six Canadians who continue to
advocate for women's rights are honoured every
year by the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case.
Website by: 
Facebook