A Cambridge submission, "The Women's Tokyo Tribunal: Women as Victims of International War Crimes", was passed at International Congress in Switzerland July 2005. This important resolution calls on UN to demand that Japan recognize the injustice and make reparation to women who were used as sex slaves by the Japanese military during the second world war.

Press Release

Famous Five

(Pictured at right - Left to right: Kay Crawford as Emily Murphy, Elizabeth Clare as Henrietta Muir Edwards, Virginia Viragh as Louise McKinney, Ruth Thompson as Nellie McClung and Lin Buxton as Irene Parlby.)

It is difficult to believe that only 75 years ago, women were not considered persons under Canadian law. In 1929, the "Person's Case" ruling changed all that. This case removed barriers for women to participate in ALL facets of public life including the right to receive wages for work.

On October 25, the Cambridge Business and Professional Women’s Club held a commemorate event to honour the five Canadian women from Alberta who successfully launched the Person’s Case. Now known as the "Famous Five" they were: Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney and Nellie McClung. Five members of Cambridge BPW, decked in period costume, portrayed and recounted the struggles of these courageous women in achieving full legal status for women.

In 1929, women could vote in almost every province in Canada but barriers remained to women’s full equality. While women could hold public office, they could not be appointed to the Senate. For almost 10 years, Emily Murphy and Nellie McClung appealed to the Canadian government to change this, but the answer was always the same: women could not be Senators because the British North America Act stated that only "persons" could be appointed, and, under the Act, only men were considered "persons".

This is how the women's legal struggle became about the interpretation of the word "person" in the BNA Act. In 1927, the Famous Five launched a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada. The question posed: "Does the word 'Person' in section 24 of the BNA Act, 1867, include female persons?"

When turned down by the Supreme Court, the Famous Five appealed to the Justice Committee of the Privy Council in England. In 1929, they won and their legal battle had world shattering results. Everywhere in the British Empire, women at last became "persons". This small change in law was probably the most effective change by the whole suffragette movement.

Today, we can be complacent about women's access to public life; the importance of a mere legal definition may seem unimportant. But if women weren't legal persons, they could never be senators, magistrates nor could they in some instances be employees with the right to wages. Furthermore, women could be automatically barred from future rights by the simple process of slipping the word "person" into any act passed.

As part of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs – an organization dedicated to promoting the rights of women – Cambridge BPW was pleased to commemorate the courage and tenacity of the Famous Five. BPW is connected to one of the Famous Five, Nellie McClung, who was a founder of the Calgary BPW club in the 1930's

In November 2004, the Bank of Canada will honour the Famous Five with the release a new $50 bill depicting the five women. This is the first time that women, apart from the Queen, have appeared on Canadian currency.