What Was The Impact Of Famous Five On Women's Rights
The Impact of the ‘Famous Five’ on Women’s Political Rights
Five women contested the legal meaning of the term ‘persons’ in court: Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby, also known as the “Famous Five” (Koshan, 2008). The Albertan women contested its significance in the law before the Supreme court in 1927, where they lost at trial (Historica). They, then, appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council who, at that time, “served as a court of final appeal for Canada.” (Farr, 2013; Hughes, 2001/2002). In 1929, the Privy Council “ruled that the word ‘persons’ in Section 24 included members both of the male and female sex, and that women were eligible to be summoned to and become members …show more content…
The first women’s suffrage group was established in Ontario in 1876 and the movement met its end in 1921 when all Canadians over the age of 21 finally got the right to vote federally and run for a seat in the House (Elections Canada, 2015). Correspondingly, the movement touched a variety of issues, from the healthcare system to equal political rights (Strong-Boag, …show more content…
Since the 1860s, many have tried to bring their cases to higher courts but were shut down in lower courts due to their male counterpart managing to prove that, because they were women, it was impossible for them to be persons (Hughes, 2001/2002). The reason why the Persons Case managed to be heard by the two highest courts in Canada is because the ‘Famous Five’ were “social reformers and equal rights campaigners” and were a part of the handful of women who held public office in the British Empire (Hughes 2001/2002).
According the Hughes’s article, several were against the case from the very beginning, especially men at all levels of the legal profession (2001/2002). They agreed with the Attorney General of Canada’s view on the British North America Act, where he that it should be read as it would have been understood at that time, since it was written with only male pronouns at a time when women had no political rights (Hughes,
Five women contested the legal meaning of the term ‘persons’ in court: Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby, also known as the “Famous Five” (Koshan, 2008). The Albertan women contested its significance in the law before the Supreme court in 1927, where they lost at trial (Historica). They, then, appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council who, at that time, “served as a court of final appeal for Canada.” (Farr, 2013; Hughes, 2001/2002). In 1929, the Privy Council “ruled that the word ‘persons’ in Section 24 included members both of the male and female sex, and that women were eligible to be summoned to and become members …show more content…
The first women’s suffrage group was established in Ontario in 1876 and the movement met its end in 1921 when all Canadians over the age of 21 finally got the right to vote federally and run for a seat in the House (Elections Canada, 2015). Correspondingly, the movement touched a variety of issues, from the healthcare system to equal political rights (Strong-Boag, …show more content…
Since the 1860s, many have tried to bring their cases to higher courts but were shut down in lower courts due to their male counterpart managing to prove that, because they were women, it was impossible for them to be persons (Hughes, 2001/2002). The reason why the Persons Case managed to be heard by the two highest courts in Canada is because the ‘Famous Five’ were “social reformers and equal rights campaigners” and were a part of the handful of women who held public office in the British Empire (Hughes 2001/2002).
According the Hughes’s article, several were against the case from the very beginning, especially men at all levels of the legal profession (2001/2002). They agreed with the Attorney General of Canada’s view on the British North America Act, where he that it should be read as it would have been understood at that time, since it was written with only male pronouns at a time when women had no political rights (Hughes,