Emily Murphy: Women's Rights Activist

Since the 19th Century, women in Canada have fought political, legal, and social battles to find their place in Canadian society. From starting out in small, local organizations, to legal battles in the Supreme Court, Canadian women have come a long way. Unfortunately, it took a long time for many people to adapt to the changing roles of women, which made women still feel unequal compared to men. It is really striking to think that at one point society questioned if women could even be considered persons, just a small sample of the many changes women had to face through the course of history. This paper will analyze these changes experienced by Canadian women in that time period and how it affected their everyday lives.

They decided the question to be asked was “Does the word ‘person’ in section 24 of the BNA Act include female persons?” (Section 15, 2004). Unfortunately, in 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada answers this question with no; women weren’t persons. The judges of the Supreme Court stated that when the BNA Act was written, women weren’t allowed vote or run for office and the British House of Lords had no females (Alberta Online Encyclopedia, 2004). Therefore, women didn’t count as “persons”. However, the Famous Five weren’t satisfied with the answer they got and decided to continue working on the case.

Women were also allowed to get educations and go into teaching and nursing positions. The Person’s Case was another highlight which demonstrates the advancements of women’s right in Canadian history. This case included five women who ultimately help transform the way women were seen. Emily Murphy played a significant role in establishing women’s rights which led to women being called “persons” in matters of rights and privileges. Furthermore, another female Canadian named Nellie McClung helped in getting the right to vote for women. Ultimately resulting in the May 24th, 1918 Act allowing all women 21 years of age or more in Canada the official right to vote even if they did not have the provincial license. The war brought many changes to Canada and around the world. Women were finally being recognized for their efforts and perseverance and acquiring new freedoms and improved rights for themselves. During the 1920’s, women became more involved in society and continued to participate in the work force. Women continued to make half the earning men were making at that time but by 1929 women made up about 20% of the workforce. The Women’s Labour League worked to defend women workers and the labour movement. They exposed shortfalls in the minimum wage laws and fought for equal pay, maternity care and a women right for birth control. Women were finally making their mark in government. By 1939,

The Persons case was one of the most defining moments for Canadian women in history. Not only did it allow for women to work in the government but it opened so many doors for other issues involving women and their rights. The Persons Case was a constitutional ruling that gave the right to Women to be able to be appointed into the Senate. The case was started by the Famous Five, a group of women’s right activists, consisting of Emily Murphy, Irene Marryat Parlby, Nellie Mooney McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards. In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not “persons” according to the BNA act. Therefore, they were not eligible to hold a position in the government. The Famous Five were not pleased with this law that was degrading to women so, they appealed to the Privy Council of England and in 1929, the Court’s decision was reversed. The Persons Case enabled women to work for change in

Emily Murphy improved Women’s rights by becoming apart of the successful “persons case”. In 1855, women were not defined as people. In 1927, the famous five launched the “persons case”, however the supreme court of Canada made a decision that Women should not be defined as people. By 1929, the famous five took the persons case to judicial court. The case was successful and Women were now considered as people. Emily Murphy strongly believed in Women’s rights and she did many more things to prove her loyalty to the

At the age of 40, when her children became independent and began their separate lives, Murphy began to actively organize women's groups where the isolated housewives could meet and discuss ideas and plan group projects. In addition to these organizations, Murphy began to speak openly and frankly about the disadvantaged and the poor living conditions that surrounded their society. Emily’s strong interest in the rights and protection of women and children intensified when she was made aware of an unjust experience of an Albertan woman whose husband sold the family farm. After the husband sold the farm, he abandoned his wife and children who were left homeless and poor. At that time, property laws did not leave the wife with any legal recourse. This case motivated Murphy to create a campaign that assured the property rights of married women called the Dower Act. With the support of many rural women, Murphy began to pressure the Alberta government to allow women to retain the rights of their land. In 1916, Murphy successfully persuaded the Alberta legislator to pass the Dower Act that would allow a woman legal rights to one third of her husband's property. Murphy's reputation as a women's rights activist was established by this first political

Throughout this course, we learn that women’s studies originated as a concerned at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). It has always been known that in the past, men have had more privilege than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs have divergent female identities, however this does not hinder the fact that many of these cultures are based on patriarchal past where men hold more rights than women. Canadian women have sought to overcome these stereotypes and have managed to gain a position of near equality. This was

Ellen Pence was born on April 15th 1948 in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Bradkin, 2016). She had a son, Liam McCormick, with her partner, Amanda McCormick (Bradkin, 2016). Jeffrey Edleson (2010) portrayed Ellen as comical with a dry sarcastic humor and would love teasing people. Battered Women’s Justice Project (2016), depicted Ellen as a critical analyst, a compassionate listener, and committed to social justice. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from St. Scholastica (Bradkin, 2016). Ellen later received her Doctorate in Sociology at The University of Toronto (Bradkin, 2016). Her mother, Audrie Pence, was an advocate of the feminist movement (Bradkin, 2016). Ellen was also an activist who contributed to the movement to end

The result of Emily's effort was that on June 19, 1916, Judge Murphy became "first woman police magistrate in the British Empire.". In January 1921 Mrs. Murphy received a letter from a secretary of the Montreal Women's Club saying that women "here" want her in the senate. This letter encouraged Emily to fight "the question through to a finish ..." In August 27, 1927 Judge Murphy sent a letter to Ottawa "in a request by the governor-general-in- council to the Supreme Court for a ruling on the question, `Does the word Persons in Section 24 of the British North America Act 1867, include female persons?'" Section 24 was the excuse of Senators not letting a woman to be a `person' and therefore not allowing women to hold political office.

Bertha Wilson was a remarkable woman who changed the face of the Supreme Court of Canada forever. She was the first woman appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the first female partner in a major law firm. Even though she wasn’t a Chief Justice, it was a huge accomplishment for a woman to be a Puisne Justice. Bertha Wilson was chosen for my Heritage Fair topic because Bertha worked hard even when she knew that no woman had been where she had been before. This essay will explain different times in Bertha’s life and how she made her mark in the books of Great Canadian Women.

Feminized Justice The Toronto Women’s Court by Amanda Glasbeek is a non-fiction book about the Toronto Women’s Court from 1913-1939. This book tells readers how poorly women were treated in the Criminal Justice System, so poorly that women had to create their own court system that was very different from a man’s. Some people described it as “approaching the teacher at the teacher’s table.” The thesis of this novel is the successes and failures of the Toronto Women’s Court, how women were not treated as fairly as men were in the court systems, and most men were acquitted while women were charged. This educational book is very impressive, Glasbeek did a very good job on proving her points with information from scholarly articles.

During the late nineteenth-century, women went to court to continue to secure their rights to participate in public life: to vote, to be a justice of the peace, to be a notary public, to serve as school district directors, school committee officers, school officers, and prosecuting attorneys, an of course to practice law (Drachman, 1998).

In this paper, I will discuss a number of topics regarding woman and the Supreme Court from historical precedents to objective research to the importance of female judges and Justices and finally to the possibilities of the future. Each of these steps is vital to fully understanding how we got to our country’s current place in female jurisprudence and creating future opportunities for women both on the Supreme Court and in all other levels of the judicial system across the United States.

Throughout history, Canada’s identity has changed in many ways and there have been many historical events that have greatly shaped and impacted Canada’s history and identity. The Women’s Movement and women’s contribution in the past and throughout history has had the greatest impact on shaping Canada into what it is today. Among many identifying qualities like being multicultural, bilingual, and world leaders, Canada is also country that has changed immensely in the way of becoming a country that has learned to accept women, move towards providing them with equal opportunities and treating them equally. Through economic, social and political movements and actions, the contribution from women and the women’s movement have increased, changed and improved women’s rights and equality greatly. Women worked to create independence and equality economically through their contributions to war on the homefront in WWI resulting in greater workplace equality, socially through the actions of the Flappers in the 1920’s giving women currently, the confidence and strength that they need to speak up, and politically, through the work of the Suffragists including the Famous 5 to allow women to have the same political rights as men.

Women being able to vote was a huge step forward for Canadian women, but even though they could run for certain political positions, they could not be Senators. During the early twentieth century women were not legally considered “persons” and could not be Senators (Women become Persons). This act of exclusion portrayed Canada as an immature nation. A milestone with significant importance occurred in the Persons Case. The first constitution of Canada was the BNA Act (British North America Act). In this constitution it referred to a group of people as “persons” but when one individual was referenced they used the word ‘he”. The constitution restricted women from holding public office. (History Canadian resources book) The act declared that “women are persons in matters of pain and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges.” Therefore, women could be given the same penalties as men for breaking a law, but could not receive the same basic benefits that men could. Unfair legalities like this proves that Canada was