The Famous Five

• • Importance: enabled women to work in the House of Commons and the Senate
  • Women could no longer be denied rights based on a narrow interpretation of the law
• • Challenged the government’s definition of the word “persons”
  • The BNA act outlines the qualifications of a “persons” must fulfill in order to serve in the senate and other government positions
  • Never specified a gender but the court ruled that “persons” referred to males
• • The famous five went to Britain and challenged the court's ruling 
  • Court ruled that “persons” included men and women
  • The Person’s case: the case that rules that women should be able to work in the House of Commons and Senate
• Nellie McClung: Suffragist, prohibition activist, and successful author

  • Elected to Alberta legislature in 1921
• Emily Murphy: journalist, politician, legal reformer, and author

  • First woman magistrate in Canada and the British Empire (judge)
  • Her appointment was challenged on the grounds that women were not persons according to the BNA Act