Emily Murphy was a prominent suffragist and
reformer. In 1917, she spearheaded the fight to have women declared
"persons" in Canada and, therefore, eligible to serve in the Senate.
She became the first female police magistrate in the British Empire
and wasn't afraid to face a battle. If she had a good cause in hand,
she was prepared to fight it to a successful end.
For Emily, the ‘Persons’ Case was only one triumph in a lifetime of
achievement. She combined family life with a writing career and a wide
variety of reform activities in the interests of women and children.
Emily was a member of the Canadian Women's Press Club (president,
1913-1920), the National Council of Women, the Federated Women’s
Institute, and twenty other organizations.
On one occasion, while accompanying her husband on a trip around
the countryside, Emily met a woman who had been left homeless and
penniless when her husband sold their farm and left without her and
their children. Much to Emily's horror, there was no legal recourse
for the woman who had spent eighteen years working on the farm.
Emily set out to change this situation, and spent several years of
study on her own. She worked to convince MLAs to support her cause.
The Dower Act was finally passed in 1917 in the Alberta legislature.
This established a wife's right to one-third of her husband's estate,
but unfortunately, it took many years before authorities enforced its
provisions.
The fight for the Dower Act, plus Emily's work in the courts
through the Local Council of Women, led her to request a female
magistrate for the women's court. The Attorney General accepted the
idea and appointed Emily herself as a magistrate in 1916, much to her
surprise. After her first day in court, Emily wrote, "It was as
pleasant an experience as running a rapids without a guide."
Judge Murphy was not in court a full day before her presence there
was challenged and the cause for her next battle became evident. A
lawyer, Eardley Jackson, challenged her appointment as a judge
because, he argued, women were not "persons" under the British North
America Act of 1867. The Judge calmly overruled the objection that day
and many days thereafter. Finally In 1917, the Alberta Supreme Court
settled the issue for Alberta by ruling that women were persons—thus
answering a gender-based challenge to a ruling by Judge Alice Jamieson
of Calgary. This, however, was not the case in other provinces or in
federal matters.
Eventually, Emily decided to test the situation, and allowed her
name to go to the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Borden, as a candidate
for the Senate. He rejected her on the grounds that, under the British
North America Act women indeed were not "persons." This interpretation
was based on a British Common Law ruling of 1876 which stated that, "women
were eligible for pains and penalties, but not rights and privileges."
The campaign to appoint a woman to the Senate, particularly Emily,
was gaining momentum across the country. Nearly 500,000 Canadians
signed a petition asking that Emily Murphy be appointed to the Senate.
Prime Minister Border and Mackenzie King both indicated that they
were willing to appoint a woman to the Senate but because of the 1876
ruling, they were not able to do so. Despite her achievements and
national renown, as far as the federal government was concerned, there
seemed to be no hope for women unless the British North America Act
could be changed.
Emily decided she would have to change it. With the help of one of
her brothers, who was a lawyer, she devised a plan to work through the
Supreme Court to ask for constitutional clarification regarding women
becoming Senators. Such a question had to be submitted by a group of
at least five citizens, but that posed no problem for Emily.
Her group—Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney,
Irene Parlby and herself—met for tea at Emily's house on August 27,
1927 and signed her petition to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Disregarding the two questions which Emily and her colleagues
submitted, the Department of Justice recommended to Prime Minister
King that the best question to present to the Supreme Court was,
Does the word "persons" in Section 24, of the British North America
Act, 1867, include female persons? The arguments were presented on
March 14, 1928, Emily's 60th birthday and after a daylong debate, the
Supreme Court of Canada decided against the women on April 24, 1928.
However, the Famous 5 refused to give in and with the approval of
Prime Minister Mackenzie King, the decision was appealed to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, England, the true
Supreme Court for Canada at that time.
After several more months of waiting, Emily finally got the answer
she had been waiting for. On October 18, 1929, the Privy Council
decided, that women are "persons" and can serve in the Senate.
Emily was elated, but she was not to receive the first appointment
to the Senate. That went, about five months later, to Cairine Wilson,
with Emily's blessing. In 1931, the Edmonton Press Club wired Prime
Minister R. B. Bennett: "This woman in Canada has given so freely of
herself to the public service of her country, and no woman is more
worthy"—to no avail.
Senate appointments are made on the basis of geographic areas and
also political allegiances. The first opening after the victory of the
'Persons' Case occurred in Ottawa. Emily lived in Edmonton. Prime
Minister Mackenzie King was a Liberal and Emily was an ardent Tory. In
1931, R. B. Bennett, Calgary's only Prime Minister, was required to
appoint a Senator from northern Alberta. He was advised that because
the other Senators from Alberta were Protestants, it was necessary to
appoint a Catholic, like the member who had died. The senator
appointed, Patrick Burns, was Catholic but he was also Liberal. Many
people still wonder why it was possible in this case to overlook
political affiliation but not religious affiliation. It was not until
1979 when Martha Bielish was appointed to the Senate that Alberta
received its first female senator, even though in 1929 Emily and four
other Alberta women succeeded in having a key aspect of the British
North America Act, 1867 re-defined.
Emily died, of diabetes, in Edmonton, October 17, 1933, at the age
of 65. Her mausoleum drawer lists her many achievements, including the
'Persons' Case, which improved the democratic life of women throughout
the British Empire.
For more information on the life and accomplishments of Emily
Murphy follow this link:
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