The Famous Five

The Famous Five were five ladies who chose to fight
In the roaring twenties for women’s rights
It was a time when women had hardly any rights at all
They weren’t even persons under the law!
Until five feisty Albertans came along
And changed the way Canada saw womenfolk from then on

The Famous Five were Nellie, Emily, Louise, Irene and Harrietta
Nellie McClung, author, public speaker, League of Nations delegate, and perhaps the most unforgettable
Emily Murphy, their fierce leader and the British Empire’s first female magistrate-ure
Louise McKinney, the British Empire first woman elected to legislature
Irene Parbly, the first female Canadian MPP appointed a cabinet position
And Harrietta Muir Edwards, founder of the YWCA — nee The Working Girls Association

In 1916 Albertan women won the right to vote, but only in provincial elections you see
The first in Canada, egged on by Premier Roblin’s smooth condescension it seems
They waged a campaign of political satire and parody jokes
Selling out shows mimicking arguments against the female vote
Turning them around, as if women had the vote and men were fighting for it, in
Saying politics is unsuitable for men, taking them away from the farm versus the kitchen

Next they campaigned for women to be eligible for Supreme Court duty
Pushing the Persons Case to Canada’s Supreme Court jury
When their petition was declined
Chief Justice Anglin opined
“Does the word “Person” in …the BNA Act 1867 include female persons?”
He thought not — since no women held office when the act was written.

The Famous Five persisted here
Taking it to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Westminster
In London, England where it was determined
That in some clauses, the BNA Act clearly meant the word persons
To include women, so why shouldn’t it in the senate section too?
The word persons they determined, meant both sexes, it’s true.

Said Lord Chancellor Sankey
“The BNA Act was planted in Canada, a living tree
Capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits….
Their lordships have come to the conclusion that the word ‘persons’ includes [within it]
Members of [both] the male and female sex….[thus] women are eligible
To become members of the Senate of Canada.” Hallelujah!

The year was 1929, the stock market crashed, Popeye the Sailor debuted
New York’s Museum of Modern Art opened, and women become persons in Canada’s view
The following year, Mrs. Cairine Wilson was appointed to the Canadian Senate
Back in 1918, Canada passed the fair female federal vote tenet
Between 1916 and ’25, white women outside of Quebec and the North West Territories got the ‘state’ vote passed
In 1940, it came the Belle Province, in ‘48 to minorities, in ‘51 to the Territory, but not until 1960 to the First Nations — at long last