Political Activists | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Emily Murphy (Plain-Language Summary)

    Emily Murphy (née Ferguson), pen name Janey Canuck, writer, journalist, magistrate, political and legal reformer (born 14 March 1868 in Cookstown, ON; died 27 October 1933 in Edmonton, AB). Emily Murphy was the first woman magistrate (justice of the peace) in the British Empire. She was also one of the Famous Five behind the Persons Case. It ruled that women were persons in the eyes of the law. Murphy was an outspoken feminist and suffragist. She is also controversial. Her views on immigration and eugenics have been seen as racist and elitist. She was named a Person of National Historic Significance in 1958. She was made an honorary senator in 2009. This article is a plain-language summary of Emily Murphy. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Emily Murphy.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/f2df0151-1333-440b-ae34-65430693183c.jpg Emily Murphy (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    Famous Five

    Alberta’s “Famous Five” were petitioners in the groundbreaking Persons Case. The case was brought before the Supreme Court of Canada in 1927. It was decided in 1929 by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Canada’s highest appeals court at the time. The group was led by judge Emily Murphy. It also included  Henrietta Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby. Together, the five women had many years of active work in various campaigns for women’s rights dating back to the 1880s and 1890s. They enjoyed a national — and in the case of McClung, an international — reputation among reformers.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/65699b89-06c0-4518-aa06-4eea43f2ec74.jpg Famous Five

  • Article

    Famous Five (Plain-Language Summary)

    The “Famous Five” were the women behind the Persons Case. It was a constitutional ruling. It established the right of women to serve in the Senate. It ruled in 1929 that women were persons in the eyes of the law. The case was started by the Famous Five. They were a group of women activists. They were led by justice Emily Murphy. The other women were Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby. The five had been working for women’s rights since the 1880s and 1890s. This article is a plain-language summary of the Famous Five. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Famous Five.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/65699b89-06c0-4518-aa06-4eea43f2ec74.jpg Famous Five (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    Frank Scott

    Scott returned to Canada in 1923, largely ignorant of his own country. Montréal seemed to him singularly ugly, bereft of the ancient beauty of Europe. Scott settled down to teach at Lower Canada College and to write poetry. In 1924 he enrolled in the McGill law faculty, where H.A.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/66f53b27-b71c-4cdc-b4b6-9c542975a2ba.jpg Frank Scott

  • Article

    Georges Erasmus

    Georges Henry Erasmus, OC, Indigenous leader, activist and spokesperson (born 8 August 1948 in Fort Rae, NT). Erasmus has been a leading advocate for the self-determination of Indigenous peoples in Canada. He has served as the head of several Indigenous public policy organizations, including the Dene Nation and the Assembly of First Nations. He also served as the co-chair for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/df5afa10-787f-47b4-b776-2bac0e1cf404.jpg Georges Erasmus

  • Article

    Gerald Caplan

    Gerald Lewis Caplan, political administrator, historian (b at Toronto 1938).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Gerald Caplan

  • Article

    Helen (Ma) Armstrong

    Helen (Ma) Armstrong (née Jury), labour activist, women’s rights activist (born 17 June 1875 in Toronto, Ontario; died 17 April 1947 in Los Angeles, California). Helen Armstrong was a labour activist who fought for the rights of working-class women throughout her life. She was the leader of the Winnipeg Women’s Labor League and a central figure in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. She campaigned for unions, a minimum wage and social security, and against conscription. Armstrong was arrested for her activism at least three times, including twice during the Winnipeg General Strike. Historian Esyllt Jones described Helen Armstrong as “the exception in a male-dominated labour movement.”

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/HelenArmstrong/Helen_Armstrong_SIS_P7199_12-resize.jpg Helen (Ma) Armstrong

  • Article

    James Lundrigan

    James Lundrigan, Conception Bay fisherman (fl 1818-30). In 1819 Lundrigan and fellow fisherman Philip Butler were involved in a court case which gave great impetus to the agitation for representative government.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 James Lundrigan

  • Article

    Jeanne Corbin

    Jeanne Henriette Corbin, communist activist and union organizer (born in March 1906 in Cellettes, France; died 7 May 1944 in London, Ontario). A member of the Communist Party of Canada and secretary of the Canadian Labour Defense League, she defended the rights of Canadian workers for over 15 years. She gained particular prominence for her role in the lumber workers’ strike in Rouyn, Quebec in 1933.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/2ad1f0fc-7e98-4378-a44f-ba8006eada39.jpg Jeanne Corbin

  • Article

    Jim Egan

    James Leo (Jim) Egan, gay activist, writer, politician, environmental activist (born 14 September 1921 in Toronto, ON; died 9 March 2000 in Courtenay, BC). Egan was the first person to publish long articles written from a gay point of view in Canada. He was also one of the first openly gay politicians to serve in Canada. Egan is best remembered for a court challenge he and his partner, Jack Nesbit, launched against the spousal allowance benefit under the Old Age Security Act in 1988. In the subsequent Egan v. Canada decision (1995), the Supreme Court read in that sexual orientation is a protected ground of discrimination in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — a monumental finding in support of LGBTQ2 rights in Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/jim-egan-tweet.jpg Jim Egan

  • Article

    John Callihoo

    John Callihoo, politician, Indigenous-rights leader (born on Michel First Nation, Alberta 1882; died in St Albert, Alberta 11 Aug 1957). Of Haudenosaunee-Cree descent and self-educated, he was a freighter and then a farmer, but his leadership capabilities soon made him a rallying point for Indigenous causes.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 John Callihoo

  • Article

    Maisie Hurley

    Maisie Hurley, née Maisie Amy Campbell-Johnston, Vancouver-area political activist, Indigenous ally (see Indigenous Peoples in Canada), newspaper founder and art collector (born 27 November 1887 in Swansea, Wales; died 3 October 1964 in North Vancouver, British Columbia). Although Hurley had no formal legal training or law degree (see Legal Education), she worked on several legal cases and advocated for Indigenous peoples’ basic human rights as well as for changes to the Indian Act. In 1946, Hurley started a newspaper called The Native Voice that aimed to bring attention to important issues concerning Indigenous communities across Canada (see Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada). In 2011, Hurley’s collection of Indigenous art was displayed at the North Vancouver Museum. 

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Untitled-11.jpg Maisie Hurley

  • Article

    Masumi Mitsui

    Masumi Mitsui, MM, farmer, soldier, Canadian Legion official (born 7 October 1887 in Tokyo, Japan; died 22 April 1987 in Hamilton, ON). Masumi Mitsui immigrated to Canada in 1908 and served with distinction in the First World War. In 1931, he and his comrades persuaded the BC government to grant Japanese Canadian veterans the right to vote, a breakthrough for Japanese and other disenfranchised Canadians. Nevertheless, Matsui and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were displaced, detained and dispossessed by the federal government during the Second World War (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MasumiMitsui/2010-23-2-4-551.jpg Masumi Mitsui

  • Article

    Mumilaaq Qaqqaq

    Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, Inuk Member of Parliament (born 4 November 1993 in Baker Lake, NU). In 2019, Qaqqaq became, at age 25, Nunavut’s youngest MP in history, and the first from the New Democratic Party (NDP) since Nunavut became a territory in 1999. Before entering politics, Qaqqaq was a public speaker and activist who raised awareness of the various crises that Inuit face (suicide, food insecurity, housing, climate).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MumilaaqQaqqaq/Mumilaaq_Qaqqaq_CBC_image.jpeg Mumilaaq Qaqqaq

  • Article

    Paul Rose

    Paul Rose, Québecois indépendantiste leader, terrorist, unionist (born 16 October 1943 in Montreal, Quebec; died 14 March 2013 in Montreal). He was a member of the Chénier Cell, also known as the South Shore Gang, of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) and a key player in the October Crisis. On 13 March 1971, he was sentenced for the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte, a minister in the government of Quebec.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/single_use_images/Paul_Rose.jpg Paul Rose