THE
Famous Five
Maritime Rights Movement
The Famous Five
The Famous Five were five women from Alberta Canada who stood for women and children’s rights. They were petitioners in the Person’s Case. Basically they fought so that women would be considered people too. The group of women consisted of Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Irene Parlby. Together these women had done a lot of work for women’s rights in many different campaigns. The famou five have a national and international reputation for leading the campaign and fighting for women’s rights. At first, the were called the “Alberta Five” but over time as they contributed more to women and children’s rights they were called the “Famous Five”. They had come to represent an entire generation of women, and without them, women may not have had the same rights that we do today. Each of the famous five, was a strong leader and believed that women should be treated equally. They fought because women were not considered “persons” under British and Canadian law. Together they formed a group that was unstoppable and it changed the world for women of all ages in Canada and also in other commonwealth countries. Emily Murphy was the first female magistrate in the British Empire, this was in 1916. She also stood for the cause and championed that wives should own some of their husbands property. This would give the wives and the children security in case the husband were to abandon or leave his family. Emily Murphy also helped pass The Married Women’s Protective Act. This was passed in Alberta in 1911. Emily’s effort towards women’s right gained her respect across all of Canada.
Louise Mckinney was another member of the famous five. Louise supported and was a part of the WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union). The WCTU was a worldwide organization that’s goal was to protect women and children. Louise was hardworking and determined to see a difference in the way that women were treated. Louise’s activism also helped women be allowed to vote in Alberta. She also championed and act called the Dowers Act. This allowed women to to prevent the sale or mortgage of their house without them knowing. She was also elected to a seat in the Alberta legislature, which actually made her the first women in the British Empire to have a seat in the legislative assembly.
Nellie McClung, who is widely known throughout Canada and the world, was also a part of the famous five. She was very determined, in everything that she did. Nellie’s efforts led to the province of Manitoba being the first to allow women to vote and run for office (1916). Eventually, her efforts also gave women in Alberta and Saskatchewan the right to vote as well. She became a liberal MLA for Edmonton, and here she worked with Irene Parlby on issues that were affecting women and children. Nellie was also the first female director of the Board of the Governors (of the CBC).
Henrietta Muir Edwards was a legal expert, and was part of the famous five. People often came to her for legal advice for issues concerning women and children. Henrietta helped found the National Council of Women of Canada (in 1983). This organization was established to help women improve theirs lives, and to this day, the organization still does this. Henrietta was a very thoughtful and caring person, and she loved to help other people. She was very passionate in the area of women’s rights. Henrietta Muir Edwards also published the first women’s magazine in Canada, and founded the Victorian Order of Nurses (1897).
The fifth member of the Famous Five was Irene Parlby. She stood for the rural farm women in Alberta and became the very first president of an association called the United Farm’s Women’s Association (1916). Irene was a very quiet person, but like the rest, determined and a strong leader. She was a politician and was also elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1921. She was also the first female to become a cabinet minister in Alberta and she was the second female cabinet minister in all of the British Empire. Irene had a lot of influence, and she used her influence to fight for the rights of women and their families. So, ask you can see, these five influential women made a huge difference for women in Canada and all throughout the world. They were the first women to be involved in the Canadian government. Because of the Famous Five, women in Canada and in other countries have the right to say what they believe, they have the right to be employed and they have the right to have a voice. Women are no longer dominated by men. These ladies made a huge difference in the lives of so many others.
Maritime Rights Movement
The Maritimes rights movement was established in the 1920’s in response to some unfair economic policies in Canada that were affecting the economy and labour force in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. The Maritime Rights Movement attempted to address the issue of the unfair policies and how they were affecting the economy in the Maritime provinces. The Maritimes were going through some hard times and some tough situations regarding the economy and population. The Movement had the needs of the Maritimes as a priority. After the war was over, the economy was at a low point, especially in eastern Canada. The Movement gave them an opportunity to stand together, and voice their opinions and their needs. Compared to the rest of Canada, the Maritimes were at a disadvantage in terms of building the economy because their were little jobs available in eastern Canada. Also, western and central Canada were much more populated, which gave them an advantage because more people working means more money. So, while the rest of the population in Canada was growing, in the Maritimes it seemed to be decreasing. People were moving to central and western Canada looking for jobs in this tough time. Not many people tried to look for jobs in the Maritimes. People needed to make enough money to provide for their families, so they were leaving and going to parts of Canada with a better economy. This didn’t just cause a problem for the economy, but also caused a problem when it came to politics. When it came to politics the policy was that your representation in the government was based on your population. This was a problem because since the Maritimes had such a small population, it gave them little influence in parliament. The Maritimes were actually only representing one fourth of the seats in the house of commons. When the population grew in the western and central parts of Canada, more seats were added for them in the house of commons. Which means, that they had more say and more votes for decisions that affected all of Canada. Seats in the house of commons were actually being taken away from the Maritimes as their population continued to decrease. Both major political parties (Liberal and Conservative) said that they would fight for Maritime rights, but this was not often achieved. When there was an election, both parties said that they would raise awareness about Maritimes rights and support eastern Canada. They said they would raise awareness to the federal government concerning the issues in the Maritimes. Most of the time, after the election was over, the promises about helping the Maritimes was not fulfilled. It wasn’t at the top of the priority list for the federal government. It was mostly due to the fact that the west had most of the seats in the house of commons and so, they were not able to push the importance of Maritime rights. The Duncan Commission was then put in place. This was established to address some of the issues in the Maritimes and also to give recommendations on how the Maritimes could improve their economy. This commission also allowed a relationship to form between Ottawa and the Maritimes which increased the Maritimes status and somewhat helped with some of the political issues in the Maritimes. The Maritimes fought long and hard to give equal rights, and to improve their economy and it paid off. The Maritimes Rights movement was established in order to bring change to the economic and political issues in eastern Canada.