Canada's "Famous Five"

My mother - born in 1919 - became a teacher in 1939. She was always an independent woman.

That's why it's so hard for me to believe that it was during her lifetime - in fact, when she was 10 years old -  that women were legally considered "persons" in Canada.

Until 1929, women - like children - were not considered equal to men. (Were they considered incapable of reasoning?) In any event, they could not hold a seat in the senate.

We have the "Famous Five" women from Alberta - my mother's home province - to thank for women's change in legal status!

I'm glad this memorial on Parliament Hill is here to remind us of this fact.