Home > The Valiant Five

The women, all of whom were from Alberta, were:

• Emily Murphy (the British Empire's first woman judge),
• Irene Marryat Parlby ,
• Nellie Mooney McClung (a famous suffragist and member of the Alberta legislature),
• Louise Crummy McKinney , and
• Henrietta Muir Edwards .

Specifically the question was whether Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, included the possibility of women becoming senators: "The Governor General shall... summon qualified Persons to the Senate; and ... every Person so summoned shall become and be a Member of the Senate and a Senator."

Only men had been appointed to the Senate thus far. For years, pressure had grown for women to be appointed to the Senate. Among other reasons, until 1970 the Senate approved divorces.

In Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General) [ 1928] S.C.R. 276, The Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously that the word person did not include women. The stated grounds included:

• the framers of the Act, in 1867, could not have had it in mind to permit women senators, since women did not participate in politics at that time;
• the act exclusively used the word "he" to refer to senators.

The five women were appalled by the decision. They refused to give up and appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London--effectively Canada's highest court at that time. Canadian women were delighted when, on October 18, 1929, the committee ruled that Canadian women were indeed persons and were competent to serve in the Senate. In their decision (Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General) [ 19301930 is the common year starting on Wednesday. see link for calendar) Events January-February January 6 The first diesel-engine automobile trip is completed ( Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City). January 27 Miguel Primo de Rivera resigns January 30 G] A.C. 124 (P.C.)), the Privy Councilors called the exclusion of women from public office "a relic of days more barbarous than ours."

Four months later, Cairine WilsonCairine Reay Mackay Wilson ( February 4 1885 March 3 1962) was Canada's first female senator. Born Cairine Reay Mackay in Montreal she was the daughter of Jane Mackay and Robert Mackay, a Liberal Senator and personal friend of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. In 1909 became the first woman to sit in the Senate.

Along with Thérèse CasgrainMarie Therese Forget Casgrain ( July 10, 1896 November 2, 1981) was a Canadian feminist, reformer and politician. Therese Casgrain was raised in a wealthy family, the daughter of Lady Blanche MacDonald and Sir Rodolphe Forget. She married Pierre-Francois, the Five have been commemorated on Canada's newest fifty-dollar billThe Canadian dollar CAD or C is the unit of currency of Canada. It is divided into 100 cents (¢). History Canada decided to use the dollar instead of a pound sterling system because of the ubiquity of Spanish dollars in North America in the 18th century a.

1 See also

• List of Supreme Court of Canada casesThis is a chronological list of notable cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada. For other important cases see List of Judicial Committees of the Privy Council & House of Lords cases, which were precedent in Canada or decisions of the court of last r