The following article appeared in today's Calgary Herald. It indicates that the unveiling will be in Calgary:
Group fought to have women recognized
David Bly
Calgary Herald
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Alberta's Famous Five, the group responsible for having women legally declared persons, will soon grace the back of the $50 bill.
Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby, Nellie McClung and Henrietta Muir Edwards will share the space with Therese Casgrain, a former senator and Quebec human rights activist who died in 1981.
It's good news for the Calgary-based Famous Five Foundation, which is also celebrating the announcement that Frances Wright, the group's founder and president, has been named a recipient of a Governor General's Award for her work in promoting the principles and goals of the Famous Five.
The new bill is part of the Bank of Canada's Canadian Journey series, bank notes designed to celebrate Canada's history, culture and achievements.
The official unveiling of the note will take place Oct. 13 in Calgary at an invitation-only event, presided over by Bank of Canada governor David Dodge.
However, Susie Sparks, executive director of the Famous Five Foundation, said a public launch will also take place that day at the Famous Five monument at the southwest corner of Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary.
Among the guests at the noon event will be some 300 high school students and their leaders who are part of the foundation's leadership program.
Elementary school students in period costumes will also take part, Sparks said.
"For the first time, Alberta Learning's social studies curriculum is featuring the Famous Five and is required learning for all Grade 5 students," she said.
"This is the first time, according to my understanding, that recognizable women, other than the Queen, have been featured on Canadian currency."
The launch of the new bank note coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Persons Case.
Because the British North America Act, which established Canada as an independent nation, used the word "persons" when it referred to more than one person, and the word "he" when it referred to an individual, many argued this meant women were not persons.
The fight arose after Emily Murphy, the first woman to be named a magistrate in the British Empire, was challenged by a lawyer who said she could not perform the duties of a magistrate since she wasn't a person.
In 1927, the five women asked the Supreme Court to consider the question and, after five weeks, it ruled women were not persons. They appealed to the Privy Council in London. On Oct. 18, 1929, it ruled that women were persons, a decision considered pivotal in the advancement of women's rights.
dbly@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2004
