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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that believes there's no time like the present

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Speaker 1: to learn about the pass I'm Gay Bluesier, and in

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Speaker 1: this episode, we're looking at a landmark victory for women's

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Speaker 1: rights in Canada. The day when a prejudice tradition was

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Speaker 1: defeated and women were declared eligible to serve in the

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Speaker 1: Senate of Canada. The day was October eighteenth, nineteen twenty nine.

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Speaker 1: Canada's highest Court of Appeals determined that women are included

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Speaker 1: in the country's legal definition of persons. That historic ruling

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Speaker 1: did away with a narrow interpretation of the law that

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Speaker 1: had kept Canadian women out of the Senate for more

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Speaker 1: than sixty years. The decision also marked an important step

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Speaker 1: on the country's path the gender equality, though it may

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Speaker 1: never have happened in the first place if not for

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Speaker 1: the tireless efforts of five Alberta women. The Dominion of

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Speaker 1: Canada was created in eighteen sixty seven through the passage

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Speaker 1: of the British North America Act, now known as the

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Speaker 1: Constitution Act. That document essentially functioned as the country's first constitution.

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Speaker 1: Outlining the various powers and responsibilities of Canadian provinces and

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Speaker 1: of the federal government. Section twenty four of the Act

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Speaker 1: listed the qualifications for being appointed to the Senate of Canada.

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Speaker 1: He had to be at least thirty years old, own

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Speaker 1: property worth at least four thousand dollars, and reside in

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Speaker 1: the province of your appointment. That sounds pretty clear cut,

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Speaker 1: but one word in the clause became a major point

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Speaker 1: of contention for decades to come. Section twenty four said

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Speaker 1: that only quote qualified persons could be appointed to the Senate.

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Speaker 1: Throughout the document, the word he was used to refer

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Speaker 1: to one person, the gender neutral word persons was used

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Speaker 1: to refer to two or more people, and the word

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Speaker 1: she wasn't used at all. Consequently, the Canadian government interpreted

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Speaker 1: the word persons in section twenty four to mean that

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Speaker 1: only men could be appointed to the Senate. That interpretation

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Speaker 1: was backed by the historical belief that men were meant

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Speaker 1: to govern and women to be governed. The inherent misogyny

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Speaker 1: of that thinking was laid bare in an eighteen seventy

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Speaker 1: six ruling that sought to clarify the issue of personhood. Women.

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Speaker 1: It said are persons in matters of pains and penalties,

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Speaker 1: but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges,

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Speaker 1: and so as ridiculous as it sounds, women in Canada

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Speaker 1: were not considered persons, at least not in a legal sense,

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Speaker 1: for the first sixty two years of the country's existence.

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Speaker 1: Beginning in nineteen twenty one, Canadian women were allowed to

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Speaker 1: run in federal elections, but the government continued using the

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Speaker 1: person's argument to keep from appointing women to the Senate.

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Speaker 1: Women's groups in Canada spent years pressuring the government to

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Speaker 1: change its opinion, but to no avail. Finally, in nineteen

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Speaker 1: twenty seven, Alberta's first female judge, Emily Murphy, decided to

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Speaker 1: take the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada. She

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Speaker 1: was joined in the fight by four other prominent women's

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Speaker 1: rights activists, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Henrietta Mr. Edwards. Together,

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Speaker 1: these women now known as the Famous Five, were able

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Speaker 1: to take advantage of a little known provision in Canadian law.

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Speaker 1: It enabled any five citizens acting as a unit, to

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Speaker 1: petition the Supreme Court for clarification on any part of

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Speaker 1: the Constitution. The Famous Five asked the Court the following question,

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Speaker 1: does the word persons in Section twenty four of the

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Speaker 1: b n A Act include female persons? The Supreme Court

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Speaker 1: debated the matter for five weeks and what quickly became

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Speaker 1: known as the Person's Case. Then, in the spring of

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Speaker 1: ninety eight, the Court delivered a unanimous ruling No, the

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Speaker 1: word persons did not include women. The decision was a

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Speaker 1: shocking blow, but the Famous Five still had one final

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Speaker 1: card left to play. At the time, there was one

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Speaker 1: authority even higher than the Supreme Court of Canada, the

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Speaker 1: Privy Council of Great Britain. Since Canada was a dominion

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Speaker 1: of the then British Empire, that judicial committee in London

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Speaker 1: could still overrule Canada's highest court. Without hope in mind,

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Speaker 1: the Famous Five petitioned Prime Minister Mackenzie King to take

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Speaker 1: their case before the Privy Council. He agreed, and on

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Speaker 1: October eighteenth, mine the Council delivered its own verdict to

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Speaker 1: a packed courtroom in London. The ruling was read aloud

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Speaker 1: by Lord Sanky, Chancellor of Great Britain, and he did

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Speaker 1: not mince words about his own feelings on the matter.

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Speaker 1: Sanky said quote, Yes, women are persons and eligible to

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Speaker 1: be summoned and may become members of the Senate of Canada.

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Speaker 1: The exclusion of women from all public offices is a

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Speaker 1: relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those

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Speaker 1: who would ask why the word person should include females,

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Speaker 1: the obvious answer is why should it not. The Council's

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Speaker 1: ruling was celebrated not only by women in Canada, but

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Speaker 1: throughout the British Empire. Other countries even followed suit by

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Speaker 1: adopting the interpretation of persons as referring to both men

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Speaker 1: and women. Meanwhile, back in Canada, the first Senate vacancy

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Speaker 1: after the Person's case occurred four months later. In Ontario,

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Speaker 1: Prime Minister Mackenzie King wasted no time him and putting

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Speaker 1: the Council's decision into action. In early nineteen thirty, he

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Speaker 1: appointed Kirrine Wilson to be Canada's first female Senator. She

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Speaker 1: held her seat for more than thirty years, earning the

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Speaker 1: title of Mother of Refugees along the way. Thanks to

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Speaker 1: the work of the Famous Five and other like minded activists,

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Speaker 1: Canadian women now enjoy full participation in public and political

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Speaker 1: life that includes Indigenous women and women of Asian heritage,

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Speaker 1: two groups that were not initially included in the Privy

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Speaker 1: Council's ruling. In late the Senate of Canada achieved gender

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Speaker 1: parody for the first time in the nation's history. It

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Speaker 1: didn't last long, but even now the body has only

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Speaker 1: a slight male majority. The work of the women who

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Speaker 1: made that change possible is now commemorated every October eighteenth

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Speaker 1: in Canada during a celebration known as Persons Day. I'm

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Speaker 1: Gabe Louzier and hopefully you now know a little more

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Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like

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Speaker 1: to keep up with the show, you can follow us

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Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d I HC

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Speaker 1: Show and if you have any comments or suggestions, you

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Speaker 1: can always send them my way at this Day at

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Speaker 1: iHeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing

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Speaker 1: the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you

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Speaker 1: back here again tomorrow for another day in History Class