October 18, 2018
Persons Day
Prior to 1929, women in Canada were not considered "persons" under the law. On October 18, 1929 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain decided to include women in the legal definition of "persons" which gave women the right to be appointed to the Senate of Canada and paved the way for women's increased participation in public and political life.
The History of the Persons Case
In 1927 Emily Murphy and four other prominent Canadian women – Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards – asked the Supreme Court of Canada to answer the question: does the word "person" in Section 24 of the B.N.A. Act include female persons? After five weeks of debate and argument, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that the word "person" did not include women. The Famous Five were shocked by the Supreme Court decision but did not give up the fight. They took their case to London, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain, which in those days was Canada's highest court of appeal.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain decided when, Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, announced the decision of the five lords:
"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?"
The Famous Five not only won the right for women to serve in the Senate but helped pave the way for women to participate equally in – and contribute equally to – all other aspects of life in Canada.
Status of Women Canada
https://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/commemoration/pd-jp/index-en.html
PIPSC 2018 Human Rights and Diversity Committee
Email chrd-cdpd@pipsc.ca