Not one word did I hear in my school days about the Famous Five women from Alberta. Granted, my school days are long gone but my daughters didn’t hear about them either, and my daughters are young. Why don’t we know these wonderful women? Why can’t we say their names without hesitation?

Emily Murphy
Nellie McClung
Louise McKinney
Henrietta Muir Edwards
Irene Parlby

Right in my own back yard, in the province of Alberta, they pulled off one of the biggest legal coups ever. Without a referendum or a royal commission or a federal election, they changed the meaning of section 24 of the British North America Act. By so doing,, they changed the Canadian Constitution which in turn changed Canadian women into persons who could become Senators. They were persons before that in the common meaning of the word but they weren’t person enough to be appointed to the Senate. It doesn’t make sense but that’s what the “Persons Case” was all about.