Persons Day in Canada: How the 1929 Famous Five Triumph Redefined Constitutional Equality

Every year on October 18, Canada commemorates Persons Day (Journée de l'affaire « personne »). This foundational constitutional milestone marks the momentous 1929 ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council that established that women were legally "persons" under the law, dismantling Victorian legal exclusions and creating the celebrated "living tree doctrine" that continues to govern Canadian constitutional jurisprudence today.

1. The Constitutional Conflict: Section 24 of the British North America Act

In the 1920s, Canadian women had secured the right to vote in federal elections, but patriarchal barriers barred them from holding appointed public office, specifically appointment to the Senate of Canada. Whenever women\'s organizations petitioned Prime Minister Robert Borden or William Lyon Mackenzie King to appoint a woman to the Senate, successive governments cited Section 24 of the British North America (BNA) Act of 1867, which stated:

The government argued that when the BNA Act was drafted in 1867, Victorian common law held that women were not legal "persons" capable of holding civil or public office. Under the ancient legal doctrine of coverture, a woman\'s legal rights were subsumed into those of her husband upon marriage.

2. The Courage of the "Famous Five"

Refusing to accept this antiquated justification, five courageous women from Alberta banded together in August 1927 at the home of Emily Murphy in Edmonton:

• Emily Murphy: The British Empire’s first female magistrate and fierce judicial reformer.
• Nellie McClung: Renowned novelist, orator, and member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly who led Manitoba’s 1916 suffrage victory.
• Irene Parlby: Alberta Cabinet Minister and pioneer in rural cooperative healthcare and women’s agricultural education.
• Louise McKinney: The first woman sworn into a legislature in the entire British Empire and prohibition leader.
• Henrietta Muir Edwards: Legal expert, author of legal handbooks for women, and co-founder of the Victorian Order of Nurses.

Utilizing a rarely invoked provision of the Supreme Court Act, they petitioned the Governor General to refer a constitutional question to the Supreme Court of Canada: "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act include female persons?"

3. The Defeat and Supreme Triumph: Lord Sankey’s "Living Tree" Doctrine

In April 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously against the women, answering "No." Chief Justice Francis Alexander Anglin held that the intentions of the 1867 fathers of Confederation had excluded women.

Undaunted, the Famous Five appealed to Canada’s highest appellate court of the era: the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. On October 18, 1929, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Sankey, delivered the historic judgment, declaring:

The "living tree doctrine" became the bedrock of modern Canadian constitutional interpretation, ensuring that constitutional law is not frozen in the historical prejudices of nineteenth-century drafters, but must evolve organically to protect human rights in an advancing society. Four months later, on February 15, 1930, Cairine Wilson was appointed as Canada’s first female senator.

4. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)