Persons Day in Canada, established 93 years ago, celebrates the march of women's rights

Ninety-three years ago today, women in Canada were legally recognized as “persons,” representing a turning point in women’s rights in the country.

The perseverance of five Alberta women known as the 'Famous Five’ – Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney, and Henrietta Muir Edwards – led to the historic legal win on Oct. 18, 1929.

The case finally led to women being recognized as qualified "persons" under the British North America Act (now known as the Constitution Act, 1867) to be able to work in public bodies and be appointed to the Senate.

When Emily Murphy, who was a judge, had her rulings contested in 1916 after lawyers argued she wasn’t a “person” under Canadian law, she decided to fight.

Gathering widespread support by 1927, Murphy along with McClung, Parlby, McKinney and Edwards, petitioned the Canadian Supreme Court. However, the case was unanimously dismissed after five weeks of deliberation.

The women then appealed their case to the British government's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and ultimately won, and in 1930, Cairine Wilson became the first woman to take the oath of office in the Canadian Senate.

Their historic win is now celebrated as Persons Day. In 1979, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the pioneering Persons Case, the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case were established, to be awarded on Oct. 18.

The awards are given to recipients in national recognition of exemplary contributions to the promotion of gender equality.

One of 2019’s recipients, Carina Gabriele, who received her award in March, hopes to carry on the Famous Five’s work. She is an education advocate and a policy specialist, whose work has revolved around advancing gender equity.

“It's obviously incredibly important work in Canada and around the world, especially at a time when we're seeing a rise in misogyny,” she told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday, adding that she aims to further the definition of women in Canada to be more inclusive.

“Women being included in the legal definition was fantastic, but crucially, not all women were included in that legal definition. Indigenous women and women of Asian descent, for example, are not included in that definition.”

Gabriele developed Western University’s Women in House program in collaboration with federal lawmakers during her time serving as an elected executive officer of the student union at Western, according to the federal government. She also developed and implemented a free menstrual equity pilot program on campus and spoke out against gender-based violence.

2022’s Persons Day Award recipients were announced today. They include: Dr. Lynn Gehl, Dr. Shimi Kang, Farrah Khan, Dr. Sylvia Maracle, Judy White, and Ishita Aggarwal – Youth Recipient. Their bios can be read here.