The Fabulous Five

We were just in the Nations Capital the first week of September for my brothers wedding. So many things to write about. However, I choose to write first about the ‘Fabulous Five’.

On our first day in Ottawa we went to parliament hill to do a self guided tour around the grounds. Maybe it is having been in many different countries in Europe or maybe it was me, just getting older and more sentimental, but it was a very enjoyable time. We walked around the grounds looking at the monuments of different important people in Canada’s history.

The monument that was extremely emotional for me was of 5 women communing over tea. It was “The Persons Case”. The Persons Case is a legal history milestone in Canada. Five women from Alberta, known as the Famous Five, asked the Supreme Court of Canada to declare that women were persons under the law; after the Supreme Court turned them down, they appealed to the British Privy Council. The Privy Council found for the women on October 18, 1929, declaring that women were persons under the law. Jone Johnson Lewis http://womenshistory.about.com/od/laws/p/persons_case.htm

I have to admit that I did get a bit emotional taking this sight in. I have these 5 women to thank for my right to vote, and my right to be a person. I just can’t imagine not being seen as a person. Yet, in our world still women are treated as less human and not as persons.

This takes me to today. I watched a documentary called “Daughter’s of Afghanistan” This looks at the mistreatment of women and children in Afghanistan. Canadian Journalist Sally Armstrong follows four women and one girl as they hope for the day of liberation. I pray that the Daughter’s of Afghanistan find their ‘fabulous five’, and I pray that it would be soon!