The Famous Five (Canada)
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The Famous Five or The Valiant Five were five Canadian women who in 1927 asked the Supreme Court of Canada to answer the question, "Does the word 'Persons' in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?" in the case Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General). Canada's Supreme Court summarized its unanimous decision in the last line of the judgement as follows: "Understood to mean 'Are women eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada,' the question is answered in the negative." This judgement was overturned by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. This case, which came to be known as the Persons Case, had important ramifications not just for women's rights but also because in overturning the case, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council engendered a radical change in the Canadian judicial approach to the Canadian constitution, an approach that has come to be known as the "Living Tree" doctrine.
The five women, all of whom were from Alberta, were:
- Emily Murphy (the British Empire's first female judge);
- Irene Marryat Parlby (farm women's leader, activist and first female Cabinet minister in Alberta);
- Nellie Mooney McClung (a famous suffragist and member of the Alberta legislature);
- Louise Crummy McKinney (the first woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, or any legislature in Canada or the British Empire) and
- Henrietta Muir Edwards (an advocate for working women and a founding member of the Victorian Order of Nurses).
Along with Thérèse Casgrain, the Five have been commemorated on Canada's newest fifty-dollar bill.
The Valiant Five have also been commemorated with a statue on Canada's Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, a plaque in the antechamber of Canada's Senate and at the Olympic Plaza in Calgary, located in the women's home province of Alberta. The City of Edmonton has named five parks in its River Valley Parks System in honour of the "Famous Five".
Opinions on the Valiant Five vary considerably. Many laud them as trailblazers for women. Others are disturbed by the opinions of some of the women on other issues, such as non-white immigration and their successful campaigns to have eugenics legislation introduced in Canadian provinces. Some might well question the overall significance of the decision, noting that by the 1920s, the Canadian Senate was a largely powerless body. The more powerful Canadian House of Commons had elected its first female member (Agnes Macphail) in 1921, well before the Persons Case. However, the precedent did establish the principle that women could hold any political office in Canada. Moreover, the Five clearly did devote their energies to increasing women's participation on legislative bodies with greater power: two became members of the Alberta Legislature and one a member of the House of Commons.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Famous Five from the National Archives of Canada
- Edwards v. A.G. of Canada [1928] S.C.R. 276 - decision of the Supreme Court of Canada
- Edwards v. A.G. of Canada [1930] A.C. 124 (P.C.) - decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
- Canadian Enclyclopedia entry
