Treatment Of Women In Canada In The 1930's

Canada treatment of women was in the 1911 to 1929 was unethical. The Famous Five, were five women from Alberta driven by the urges to demolish sexism and prejudices in Canada. Canada during 1911 to 1929 was a critical moment for women’s rights. Life was difficult during these years as women had no push or pull in politics therefore Canadian women had no say in their conventional life. The famous five contributed to putting laws and acts in place that prevents abandonment and abuse by husbands. They gave women the opportunities to apply for political position and have a career with power in Canada. Women gaining power in politics was a result of women gaining the right for to vote in these years. This gave women a voice in politics; they finally

By examining historical events, it is clear the Famous Five were critical to the improvement of the quality life for a Canadian women.

Emily Murphy and Louise McKinney lead the fight for creating a safe atmosphere for mothers, wives and children. This naturally improved canadian women everyday life. Emily Murphy was an advocate for putting laws in place to protect a women in marriage, which includes placing safeguards to prevent abandonment and abuse. She encouraged and promoted for all wives and husbands to have joint ownership on their homes or properties. This would create a safety net for wives and their children in case of admadoment. Her endeavors led to The Married Women’s Protective Act, passed in Alberta in 1911. This law entailed that a married women would have all the same rights as a unmarried women when pertaining to property. This act prevented wives and their children from being abandoned by their

Emily Murphy, was the first woman judge in the British Empire. She was the Judge of a new Women's Court operating in Edmonton. Her first day on the job, a defendant's lawyer called into question a ruling of hers, “because she was not a "person" and therefore, not qualified to perform the duties of a magistrate”(Yorku). The famous five went to the highest legal court to challenge the term “person”. The government deemed if you were not male, you did not have the right to vote, and etc. The government did not believe women should have jobs that held significant power. They used the persons argument as a vindicate to elude women out of vital roles in politics, specifically the Senate of Canada. Section 24 of the British North America Act stated only "qualified persons" as in men could be appointed in to the Canadian Senate. The government had consistently interpreted this phrase as meaning men only as men were only “qualified”. Emily Murphy was determined to have the term person be recognized as both genders. She found a legal clause in the Supreme Court of Canada Act that states “any five persons acting as a unit could petition the Supreme Court for an interpretation of any part of the constitution” (Famou5). After their first failed attempt they went to the highest court, The Privy Council in England. Eventually, they won their case with The Privy Council in England