October 18, 1929 - Women are "Persons" - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Canadian constitution finally deems women “persons” able to hold public office. Until 1929, the Canadian constitution did not regard women as “persons” under our constitution for appointment to the Senate and to sit as judges. Five Alberta women decided to challenge that in 1927: Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir. Undeterred when defeated at the Supreme Court of Canada, these “famous five” women took their case to the judicial committee of the Privy Council of the House of Lords in England. After four days of deliberations, the council stated that Canadian women were eligible for appointment to the Senate. When he announced the decision, Lord Sankey, lord chancellor of the Privy Council, felt it appropriate to comment, “The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word ‘person’ should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?’” Henceforth, October 18th became known as “Persons Day” in Canada.

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