Happy Person's Day!

On this day in 1929, women became "persons" in Canada, making women eligible to run for senate. This epic battle was won by five Alberta women, commonly known as the Famous Five.

Most Canadian women had been able to vote since 1918, but they couldn't run for senate due to some specific wording in the Canadian Constitution, which was written in 1867. It stated that only "qualified persons" could run for senate. The prevailing view of the legal establishment at that time was that "persons" did not include women.

So this group of gusty women fought to have the definition of "persons" changed. They were eventually successful, but it was quite a hard battle. To learn more about this, check out CJSW’s Today in Canadian History podcast for October 18, which features The Persons Case. It’s a 10-minute long podcast which was produced by me!

So, happy Person’s Day everyone! If you live in Calgary, please vote today! Women have only been allowed to vote in Canada for the last 92 years… so remember how lucky we are. Get out there and do your civic duty!