Women | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Browse "Women"

Displaying 31-45 of 71 results
  • Article

    Gertrude Guerin

    Gertrude Guerin (née Ettershank; traditional name Klaw-law-we-leth; also known as “Old War Horse”), chief, politician, community advocate, elder (born 26 March 1917 on the Mission Reserve in North Vancouver, BC; died 25 January 1998). Guerin, born into the Squamish First Nation (see Central Coast Salish), was a fierce protector of Indigenous people and culture. She represented the Musqueam nation locally as an elected chief, and on the national stage in challenges to Canadian jurisdiction over traditional Musqueam territory (see Coast Salish).

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/53a5b672-5aba-4ad2-9cd4-8b42f5b43d62.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/53a5b672-5aba-4ad2-9cd4-8b42f5b43d62.jpg Gertrude Guerin
  • Article

    Gloria Baylis

    Gloria Leon Baylis (née Clarke), registered nurse, civil rights activist, founder and owner of Baylis Medical Company (born 29 June 1929 in Barbados, died 12 April 2017 in Montreal, QC). Baylis, a British-trained Caribbean migrant nurse was the key witness in Her Majesty the Queen, Complainant v. Hilton of Canada Ltd., Accused. (See also Caribbean Canadians.) On 2 September 1964, one day following the introduction of the Act Respecting Discrimination in Employment in Quebec, Baylis inquired about a permanent part-time nursing position at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel (QEH), which was operated by Hilton of Canada. Baylis was told that the position had already been filled. With the support of the Negro Citizenship Association (NCA), Baylis filed a complaint. On 4 October 1965, the court found that Hilton of Canada had violated the Act. For 11 years, Hilton of Canada appealed the ruling. On 19 January 1977, the Court of Appeal of Quebec upheld the initial conviction, a fine of $25 and related costs. This case is significant because it is the first time in Canadian history that an institution had been found guilty of racial discrimination in employment. (See also Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada.)

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/gloriabaylis/gloriabaylis.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/gloriabaylis/gloriabaylis.jpg Gloria Baylis
  • Article

    Gloria George

    Gloria Mary Maureen George, Indigenous politician, activist and public servant (born 24 July 1942 in Hubert, BC). A tireless advocate for non-status Indians, George was elected president of the Native Council of Canada in 1975, becoming the first and only woman to lead a major Indigenous political organization.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/d2ad31ae-15df-4691-a271-0fdc5da1e633.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/d2ad31ae-15df-4691-a271-0fdc5da1e633.jpg Gloria George
  • Article

    Grace Winona MacInnis

    In BC and Ottawa she worked hardest for low-income housing, consumer rights and women's equality. She also took great interest in international affairs, serving as Canada's representative during a number of international conferences.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/1897f494-bce1-47f5-907e-c21feeccb0a5.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/1897f494-bce1-47f5-907e-c21feeccb0a5.jpg Grace Winona MacInnis
  • Article

    Hazel McCallion

    Hazel McCallion (née Journeaux), CM, OOnt, businesswoman, athlete, politician, mayor of Mississauga 1978–2014 (born 14 February 1921 in Port Daniel, QC; died 29 January 2023 in Mississauga, ON). One of Canada's longest-serving mayors, Hazel McCallion led her city for 12 consecutive terms. She retired at age 93. Nicknamed “Hurricane Hazel” for her brash political style, she oversaw the development of Mississauga from a semi-rural bedroom community into the sixth-largest city in Canada. McCallion is considered a trailblazer for women in politics. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2005 and the Order of Ontario in 2021.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/Twitter_Cards/hazel.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/Twitter_Cards/hazel.jpg Hazel McCallion
  • Article

    Heather Stefanson

    Heather Dorothy Stefanson (née McDonald), Manitoba MLA 2000–present, premier of Manitoba 2021–23, Cabinet minister, attorney general, financial adviser (born 11 May 1970 in Winnipeg, MB). Heather Stefanson has been the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Winnipeg district of Tuxedo since 2000. After the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party won the 2016 election under leader Brian Pallister, Stefanson entered his Cabinet as minister of justice, attorney general and deputy premier. She was later minister of families and minister of health and seniors care. After Pallister resigned in 2021, Stefanson became PC leader and Manitoba's first female premier. She announced she would step down as leader after the party lost the general election in October 2023.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Premier_Heather_Stefanson_at_the_Winnipeg_Independence_Day_Celebration_2022_Cropped_2.png" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Premier_Heather_Stefanson_at_the_Winnipeg_Independence_Day_Celebration_2022_Cropped_2.png Heather Stefanson
  • Article

    Helen Gregory MacGill

    Helen Gregory MacGill, judge, journalist, musician (born 7 January 1864 in Hamilton, Canada West; died 27 February 1947 in Chicago, Illinois). Helen Gregory MacGill was a pioneering journalist, feminist and judge. She was the first woman to graduate from Trinity College (now the University of Toronto), as well as the first woman judge in British Columbia, where she served on the juvenile court for 23 years. Her daughter, Elsie MacGill, became the world’s first female aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/8997be51-6630-42e3-85ff-0e5272e2eec9.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/8997be51-6630-42e3-85ff-0e5272e2eec9.jpg Helen Gregory MacGill
  • Article

    Helen (Ma) Armstrong

    Helen (Ma) Armstrong (née Jury), labour activist, women’s rights activist (born 17 June 1875 in Toronto, Ontario; died 17 April 1947 in Los Angeles, California). Helen Armstrong was a labour activist who fought for the rights of working-class women throughout her life. She was the leader of the Winnipeg Women’s Labor League and a central figure in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. She campaigned for unions, a minimum wage and social security, and against conscription. Armstrong was arrested for her activism at least three times, including twice during the Winnipeg General Strike. Historian Esyllt Jones described Helen Armstrong as “the exception in a male-dominated labour movement.”

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/HelenArmstrong/Helen_Armstrong_SIS_P7199_12-resize.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/HelenArmstrong/Helen_Armstrong_SIS_P7199_12-resize.jpg Helen (Ma) Armstrong
  • Article

    Helen Mamayaok Maksagak

    Helen Mamayaok Maksagak, CM, politician, public servant, community leader (born 15 April 1931 in Bernard Harbour, NT [NU]; died 23 January 2009 in Cambridge Bay, NU). Maksagak was the first woman and Inuk to serve as the commissioner of the Northwest Territories. A vocal and engaged advocate for Inuit affairs, she contributed to efforts to establish Nunavut as Canada’s third territory in the 1990s. In March of 1999, she was chosen as the first commissioner of the newly created Nunavut territory; her term lasted until March 2000. Maksagak returned to a formal political role in November 2005, when she was appointed deputy commissioner of Nunavut. In addition to her political career, Maksagak performed advocacy work, focusing on Inuit and, more broadly, Indigenous initiatives, such as improving access to social services.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/4fc58d24-f4e6-464b-92bf-c9647246118f.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/4fc58d24-f4e6-464b-92bf-c9647246118f.jpg Helen Mamayaok Maksagak
  • Article

    Helena Gutteridge

    Helena Rose Gutteridge, feminist, trade unionist, socialist politician (b at London, Eng 1879 or 1880; d at Vancouver 3 Oct 1960). Gutteridge immigrated to BC in 1911 and organized the BC Women's Suffrage League.

    "https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Helena Gutteridge
  • Article

    Hilary M. Weston

    Hilary M. Weston, philanthropist, businesswoman, lieutenant-governor of ONTARIO from 1997 to 2002 (b in Dublin, Ireland, 12 Jan 1942). Born Hilary Frayne, she grew up in Dublin, Ireland and is the eldest of five children. In 1966, she married Galen Weston and had two children, Alannah and Galen.

    "https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Hilary M. Weston
  • Article

    Idola Saint-Jean

    Idola Saint-Jean, feminist and pioneer in the fight for women’s suffrage (born 19 May 1880 in Montreal, QC; died 6 April 1945 in Montreal). The first woman from Quebec to run as a candidate in a federal election, she devoted over 20 years of her life to active efforts to improve women’s legal rights.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/Idola-Saint-Jean-Actual--tweet.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/Idola-Saint-Jean-Actual--tweet.jpg Idola Saint-Jean
  • Editorial

    Irene Parlby and the United Farmers of Alberta

    The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated. Most Canadians, if they have heard of Irene Parlby, know her as one of the “Famous Five.” This group of five Alberta women were plaintiffs in a court case that argued women were indeed persons under the British North America Act (now the Constitution Act, 1867) and thus entitled to be named to the Senate. It was a landmark case in the long struggle by women to achieve political and legal equality in Canada. But Parlby’s historical significance rests on much more than just the Persons Case.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/IreneParlby/UFA_caucus.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/IreneParlby/UFA_caucus.jpg Irene Parlby and the United Farmers of Alberta
  • Article

    Jean Augustine

    Jean Augustine (née Simon), PC, CM, first Black female MP and Cabinet minister, social justice advocate, teacher, principal (born 9 September 1937 in Happy Hill, Grenada). Jean Augustine was a trailblazing politician and social activist: elected the first Black female Member of Parliament (1993), appointed the first Black woman in Cabinet (2002), and named first Fairness Commissioner by the Government of Ontario (2007). Her legacy includes the federal declaration of February as Black History Month, a motion she introduced in 1995.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/jean-augustine-twet.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/jean-augustine-twet.jpg Jean Augustine
  • Article

    Jeanne Sauvé

    Jeanne-Mathilde Sauvé, PC, CC, governor general of Canada 1984-1990, journalist, politician, speaker of the House of Commons (born 26 April 1922 in Prud'homme, Saskatchewan; died 26 January 1993 in Montreal). Sauvé was Canada's first woman to be Speaker of the House of Commons and first woman to serve as governor general.

    "https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/e450fd02-69d6-4021-8f68-a387852ed8ce.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.php
    
    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/e450fd02-69d6-4021-8f68-a387852ed8ce.jpg Jeanne Sauvé