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British North America Act (Constitution Act)
States that the Governor General can appoint people to the senate in the Queen’s name; qualified persons can be summoned to the senate -
Indian Act
The Indian Act’s aim was to assimilate the First Nations peoples. The government wanted them to give up their traditional ways of life and become British subjects, with British values and ways of life. Through the Indian Act it has taken away First Nation people’s right to vote, and self-government, banned traditional dances and ceremonial customs like the potlatch, placed the management and Indian reserves under the control of federal Indian agents, and created residential schools. -
Emily Murphy becomes Police Magistrate
Emily Murphy becomes the first Police Magistrate (judge) in the British Empire. Instead of being welcomed, she is told by a lawyer that she has no right to be there, as she is a woman and women are not persons. This causes her to begin fighting for the right for women to be considered persons. -
Military Voters Act
Extends voting rights to all men & women (eg. nurses) in Canadian Military. Aboriginals in military could also vote without forfeiting Indian Status. -
Military Service Act
Passed by PM Robert Borden using the War Measures Act; military service is made compulsory for men over 18 (conscription) Opposed by Aboriginals - Status Indians not technically considered Canadian Citizens, but were still conscripted despite:
- Initially being prohibited from recruitment
- Individual voluntary enlistment - Many
served as scouts and snipers (eg. Francis
Pegahmagabow)
- Financial contributions (eg. Victory Bonds) -
1920 Dominion Elections Act
Gives women the right to vote and to run for the Parliament of Canada. First Nations, Chinese, and Japanese women were exempt from this. -
Agnes Macphail elected to House of Commons
Elected to the House of Commons in 1921, Agnes Macphail was the country’s first female Member of Parliament. -
Mary Pickford releases movie
Famous Hollywood actress born in Canada, Mary Pickford (also known as “America’s Sweetheart”) released a movie that she both wrote and starred in. -
Famous Five write to Governer-General
A letter is written to the Governer-General in Council at Rideau Hall asking if it would be possible to appoint a female to the Senate of Canada by the Famous Five.
(Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie L. McClung, Louise C. McKinney, Emily F. Murphy, and Irene Parlby), -
Agnes Macphail sent to Switzerland
Agnes Macphail is sent to Switzerland as the first Canadian female delegate of the League of Nations. -
Women in Olympics
First time women were allowed to compete in olympics; Canada’s team won 2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze. -
Supreme Court Decision
The Supreme Court of Canada decides that the word “persons” in Section 24 of the British North America Act does not include female persons and therefore women are not eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada. -
Emily Murphy writes to the Deputy Minister of Justice
Emily F. Murphy writes a letter to W. Stuart Edwards, Deputy Minister of Justice, inquiring whether or not the word “person” meant females as well, arguing that in a law passed prior to the BNA act, the word was used to refer to persons of both the male and female sex. The letter was written on July 26, 1928, and received on July 31, 1928z -
Judgement of the Privy Council
The Privy Council comes to the conclusion that the word “persons” refers to both male and female persons and therefore women are eligible to be summoned to and become members of the Senate of Canada. -
Carine Wilson Appointed Senator
Carine Wilson is appointed the first female senator by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.