Irene Parlby

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A statue of Irene Parlby as part of a monument to the Valiant Five, located in Calgary

Irene Parlby (January 9, 1868 – July 12, 1965) was a Canadian farm women's leader, activist and politician.

Born in London, England, Parlby came to Canada in 1896. In 1913, Parlby helped to found the first women's local of the United Farmers of Alberta. In 1921, she was elected to the Alberta Legislature for the riding of Lacombe, holding the riding for 14 years. Appointed as minister without portfolio, she was the first woman Cabinet minister in Alberta.

Parlby was one of the Valiant Five, who established that women were, indeed, persons and therefore entitled to sit in the Senate of Canada.

A lifelong advocate for rural Canadian women and children, Parlby was president of the United Farm Women of Alberta from 1916 to 1919. On behalf of the UFWA, she pushed to improve public health care services and establish municipal hospitals as well as mobile medical and dental clinics. In 1921 Parlby was elected to the provincial legislature and made a cabinet minister (the second woman in Canada to hold a provincial cabinet post).