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Louise McKinney (née Crummy), Alberta MLA (1917–21), women’s rights activist, lay preacher (born 22 September 1868 in Frankville, ON; died 10 July 1931 in Claresholm, AB). Louise McKinney was the first woman elected to a legislature in Canada and in the British Empire. She was a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and a devout Methodist and prohibitionist. She was a pioneer suffragist and one of the Famous Five behind the Persons Case, the successful campaign to have women declared persons in the eyes of British law. She was also instrumental in passing Alberta’s Dower Act in 1917. However, her views on immigration and eugenics have been criticized as racist and elitist. She was named a Person of National Historic Significance in 1939 and an honorary senator in 2009.

The Jewish Community In CanadaThe 245,860 Canadians of Jewish extraction (1986 census) represent a great variety of ancestral languages and cultural traditions.

In 1982, Canada fully broke from its colonial past and “patriated” its Constitution. It transferred the country’s highest law, the British North America Act (which was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867), from the authority of the British Parliament to Canada’s federal and provincial legislatures. The Constitution was also updated with a new amending formula and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. These changes occurred after a fierce, 18-month political and legal struggle that dominated headlines and the agendas of every government in the country.

Charlie Culver, baseball player, coach, factory foreman (born 17 November 1892 in Buffalo, New York; died 4 January 1970 in Montreal, QC). Almost 24 years before Jackie Robinson played with the Montreal Royals in 1946, Charlie Culver, an African American who was misidentified as Cuban, started a Class-B Eastern Canada League game for the Royals. His stint with the team lasted just six games, but Culver remained in Quebec and became one of the best baseball players in the province’s history. He later became a respected manager and a successful junior coach. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Dr. Charles Victor Roman, surgeon, professor, author, editor, philosopher, civil rights activist (born 4 July 1864 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; died 25 August 1934 in Nashville, Tennessee). Charles Roman was raised in Dundas, Ontario, and was the first Black person to graduate from Hamilton Collegiate Institute in Hamilton, ON. After a tragic accident in his teenage years, he went on to establish himself as an internationally respected surgeon and educator; he also wrote and edited several books and periodicals and was frequently called upon as a keynote speaker. Roman used the Canada–US border as a gateway to opportunity both north and south of the line. He is an example of a true "African North American," one of many individuals of African descent who crossed and recrossed the border separating the two countries between 1850 and 1930.

Hénoc Muamba, football player (born 23 February 1989 in Kinshasa, Congo). Defensive lineman Hénoc Muamba was named the best defensive player in Canadian university football in 2010. Selected first overall in the 2011 Canadian Football League (CFL) draft, Muamba has played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2011–13), the Montreal Alouettes (2015, 2018–19), the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2016–17) and the Toronto Argonauts (2021–present). A two-time CFL All-Star and the 2019 Most Outstanding Canadian, Muamba was named both Most Valuable Canadian and Most Valuable Player at the 2022 Grey Cup. He is only the second player in CFL history (after Andrew Harris in 2019) to earn the double honour.

Refugees are migrants who fled their countries of origin to escape persecution or danger and have found asylum in another country. Over time, Canada has been the landing ground for many migrants seeking refuge from all over the world. However, discriminatory immigration policies have also prevented some asylum seekers in need of protection from entering Canada (see Canadian Refugee Policy).

Rupert Raj, transgender activist, trans social author, former psychotherapist (born 10 February 1952 in Ottawa, ON). Raj is a transgender pioneer who dedicated his career to clinical research, counselling and advocacy for the transgender community. Raj established (and co-established) some of Canada's earliest trans advocacy organizations, including the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals (disbanded). Raj also established the first known national transsexual newsletter in Canada, Gender Review: A FACTual Journal. (See also Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Canada.)

Saint André (né Alfred Bessette), faith healer, religious counsellor (born 9 August 1845 in St-Grégoire-d'Iberville, Canada East; died 6 January 1937 in Montréal, QC).

The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, known also as the Chinese Exclusion Act, banned the entry of virtually all Chinese immigrants for 24 years. Although migration into Canada from most countries was controlled or restricted in some way, only Chinese people were singled out completely from entering on the basis of race. The four exceptions to the exclusion were students, merchants (excluding laundry, restaurant and retail operators), diplomats and Canadian-born Chinese returning from education in China. The limit on absence from Canada was two years, and the consequence for not returning on time was being barred re-entry. Additionally, every person of Chinese descent, whether Canadian-born or naturalized, was required to register for an identity card within 12 months. The penalty for noncompliance was imprisonment or a fine of up to $500. Though the Act was repealed in 1947, immigration restrictions on the basis of race and national origin were not fully scrubbed until 1967.

Clement Courtenay Ligoure, physician (born 13 October 1887 in Trinidad; died 23 May 1922 Port of Spain, Trinidad). Dr. Ligoure was Halifax’s first Black doctor and an unsung hero of the Halifax Explosion, as he treated hundreds of patients free of charge in his home medical office. Dr. Ligoure was also instrumental in the formation of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada’s first and only all-Black battalion (see Black Canadians; Caribbean Canadians).

Mary Ann Camberton Shadd Cary, educator, publisher, lawyer, abolitionist (born 9 October 1823 in Wilmington, Delaware; died 5 June 1893 in Washington, D.C.). Mary Ann Shadd became the first Black woman in North America to publish and edit a newspaper, The Provincial Freeman. As one of the first Black newspaperwomen in North America, Shadd promoted the abolition of slavery and the emigration of African Americans to Canada ( see Black Canadians; Black Enslavement in Canada; Slavery Abolition Act, 1833). She also advocated on behalf of women’s rights (see Women’s Movements in Canada).

Douglas Jung, CM, OBC, politician, lawyer, soldier (born 25 February 1924 in Victoria, BC; died 4 January 2002 in Vancouver, BC). Douglas Jung was a member of Force 136, a group of Chinese Canadian soldiers who fought behind enemy lines in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War. After the war, Jung became a lawyer in British Columbia and was the first Chinese Canadian lawyer to appear before the BC Court of Appeal in 1955. On 10 June 1957, Douglas Jung was elected as the first Chinese Canadian member of Parliament.

Stanley Vollant, CM, CQ, Innu surgeon, professor and lecturer (born 2 April 1965 in Quebec City, Quebec). Vollant is the first Indigenous surgeon trained in Quebec. In 1996, he received a National Aboriginal Role Model Award from the Governor General of Canada. Vollant began Innu Meshkenu in 2010, a 6,000 km walk to promote the teachings of First Nations and to encourage Indigenous young people to pursue their dreams. In 2016, he founded the non-profit organization Puamun Meshkenu to inspire and support Indigenous peoples in their mental and physical health.

The Kwakwaka'wakw peoples are traditional inhabitants of the coastal areas of northeastern Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. In the 2016 census, 3,670 people self-identified as having Kwakwaka’wakw ancestry.

Originally made up of approximately 28 communities speaking dialects of Kwak’wala — the Kwakwaka'wakw language —the number of communities was reduced by approximately half. After sustained contact beginning in the late 18th century, Europeans applied the name of one nation, the Kwakiutl, to the whole group in 1849, a tradition that persisted. The name Kwakwaka’wakw means those who speak Kwak’wala, which itself includes multiple dialects. (See also Northwest Coast Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

The Seneca (Onöndowa’ga, “People of the Great Hills”) are an Indigenous nation. Known as the “Keepers of the Western Door,” they are the western-most member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy with ancestral lands located south of Lake Ontario. Today, some Seneca people also live on Six Nations territory near Brantford, Ontario. (See also First Nations.)

Filipinos have been in Canada as early as the late 19th century. Migration from the Philippines to Canada significantly increased from the 1960s onward. (See Immigration to Canada.) In the 2016 Census, 837,130 people reported being of Filipino ethnic origin. Filipino Canadians are the largest group of Southeast Asian Canadians. Among Filipino Canadians, women outnumber men by 56 per cent to 44 per cent. The Philippines was the most common country of birth among people who immigrated to Canada between 2011 and 2016.

Zalman “Zal” Yanovsky, guitarist, songwriter, restaurateur (born 19 December 1944 in Toronto, ON; died 13 December 2002 in Kingston, ON). A product of the Yorkville and Greenwich Village folk music scenes of the early 1960s, Zal Yanovsky was best known as the lead guitarist in the folk-rock band The Lovin’ Spoonful. Formed in 1965, the group had seven top 10 hits in two years, including “Do You Believe in Magic,” “Daydream” and the No. 1 hit “Summer in the City.” Yanovsky was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Lovin’ Spoonful in 2000.