National Library News October 1999 Vol. 31, no. 10

Changing Canadian Women, Changing Canadian History: Women’s History Month

"There is nothing that I like better than to be standing on a street corner, passing out leaflets, because it is how you come to understand what people are about." Lea Roback, labour activist

"What I wanted more than anything was to be able to look after myself and make sure that every other woman in the world could do the same." Doris Anderson, journalist, women’s rights activist

"They couldn’t afford children if they couldn’t afford to eat. So the families came to the clinic and we gave them information." Elizabeth Bagshaw, medical director of Canada’s first birth control clinic

Engaged, independent, pragmatic, these are the voices of Canadian women activists.

Each October, for Women’s History Month, the National Library of Canada prepares a series of biographies to celebrate the lives and achievements of Canadian women who have contributed to the development of Canadian society in a wide range of spheres. These biographies are added to the Library’s Web site at <http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/digiproj/women/ewomen.htm>.

October 1999 coincides with the 70th anniversary of the "Persons Case", a very significant affair in the history of women’s rights in Canada. In 1927, the "Famous Five", Irene Parlby, Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards and Louise McKinney, petitioned for a Supreme Court of Canada interpretation on whether the term "qualified persons" in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867 included women as persons eligible for appointment to the Senate. After the Court ruled that the term did not include female persons, the petitioners requested that an appeal be sent to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England. On October 18, 1929, the Committee overturned the decision of the Supreme Court and ruled that "qualified persons" in section 24 did include women and that women were "eligible to be summoned to and become members of the Senate of Canada" (Dominion Law Reports, [1930] 1 DLR).

In honour of this anniversary and Women’s History Month, the National Library of Canada has chosen to celebrate the "Famous Five", together with other women activists who have worked to improve various aspects of the lives of all Canadian women: working conditions, health care, child care, marital rights, political rights and representation, educational and professional opportunities, etc.

These women activists have tirelessly pursued social justice through a variety of means. Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby and Louise McKinney were members of the Alberta legislature who supported legislation to improve the welfare of women and children. Emily Murphy became the first woman magistrate in the British Empire when she was appointed police magistrate for the City of Edmonton, a position which led her to write extensively on the need for changes to laws on the use of narcotics. In the face of strong opposition from medical colleagues and the local clergy, Elizabeth Bagshaw ran the first (and illegal) birth control clinic in Canada, from 1932 to 1966.

As founders and members of numerous organizations, they have brought together and given voice to communities of women who share concerns, problems, solutions and ideas for change. Henrietta Muir Edwards founded the Working Girl’s Association, precursor of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). Together with Lady Aberdeen, she also founded the National Council of Women and the Victorian Order of Nurses. Muriel Duckworth was one of the founding members of both Voice of Women, an organization concerned with world peace, and the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), a centre for community-based research and scholarship. Kay Livingstone was the first president of the Canadian Negro Women’s Association and an organizer of the first National Congress of Black Women in 1973, a meeting which brought together about 200 women from across Canada.

Poor working conditions and salaries for the female-dominated work force of the textile and garment industries motivated both Lea Roback and Madeleine Parent to assume organizing roles in the Quebec labour movement. Also in Quebec, Laure Gaudreault saw a need to bring attention to the working conditions of rural teachers and founded the Association des institutrices rurales de la province de Québec.

The need to share new ideas and to challenge traditional thinking regarding the roles and rights of women in Canada found a natural outlet in journalism and broadcasting for women such as Doris Anderson, editor of Chatelaine magazine; June Callwood, writer of articles for magazines and newspapers such as Maclean’s, Chatelaine and The Globe and Mail; and Florence Bird, journalist and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) broadcaster, and chair of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.

Personal experience of discriminatory laws for Native women led Jeannette Corbiere Lavell to an action of national significance. When her marriage to a non-Native man resulted in the loss of her Indian status, Jeannette Lavell challenged the Indian Act through various levels of the Canadian judicial system. Although she lost her case in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1973, she began the process which would lead eventually to the repeal, in 1985, of that section of the Indian Act.

Although on very diverse paths, these women share, throughout their long and active lives, a dedication to achieving equality and justice and a commitment to helping others, be they women, men or children, both inside and outside Canada. The Web site Celebrating Women’s Achievements is designed to contribute to an awareness and understanding of the tangible contribution made to Canadian society by these remarkable persons.