Legendary Canadian Women

Viola Desmond was born in Halifax in 1914. She became a beautician after training in Montreal which she had to do because as a woman of African descent she was not allowed to train in Halifax. She designed a line hair and skin care products for black women. She opened a hair salon and later The Desmond School of Beauty Culture so that black women would not have to travel as far as they previously had to receive proper training. Catering to women from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec. Students were provided with the skills required to open their own businesses and provide jobs for other black women within their communities. Each year as many as fifteen women graduated from the school, all of whom had been denied admission to whites-only training schools.

In 1946 she went into a theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia to pass time as she waited for her car to get fixed. She bought a ticket which was for the balcony but because she was nearsighted, she decided to sit closer to the screen in the floor section. There were no segregation laws for movie theatres in Nova Scotia at the time but these discriminatory practices were allowed in all Canadian provinces.

Desmond wasn’t aware the floor seats were reserved for whites only but realized it when she asked to move. She refused. The floor seat tickets were more expensive, so when she was made aware she asked to exchange her ticket for a floor seat ticket and to pay the difference.

She was refused, dragged out of the theatre so forcibly that it caused a hip injury. She was then charged with tax evasion and held in jail for 12 hours. She was subsequently found guilty and fined $25.

In 2010 she was the first person in Canada to be granted a free pardon. A free pardon means she was deemed to have never committed the offence for which she was convicted. On March 18, 2018, at a ceremony in Halifax Nova Scotia, the $10 banknote on which she appears was unveiled.

Viola died at the age of 50, in 1965 in New York City.

“Justice in Canada is when every First Nations child doesn’t go to bed hungry, or with self-loathing, or without heating or without water or without a healthy environment because at the core of our teachings, our communities, our traditions is our children. Our children are our very motivation, our futures. And our children deserve everything.”

Nahanni Fontaine’s voice is recognized throughout Canada – and the world – on matters of social justice for Indigenous Peoples.  Instrumental in organizing Canada’s 2nd National Roundtable on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S), Nahanni has organized Provincial and National Gatherings for MMIWG2S families, alongside, National Justice Practitioners Gathering. Nahanni has spoken around the world on the epidemic violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited.

On March 10, 2021, Nahanni Fontaine was removed from the House for the rest of the day for saying the Progressive Conservatives “just don’t give a crap” about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people

Nahanni is also the first Indigenous woman to be House Leader of any Legislature or Parliament in Canadian history.  As Manitoba’s Official Opposition’s Justice Critic, MMIWG2S and Veterans Affairs Spokesperson and House Speaker, Nahanni has unfailingly championed the rights of Manitoba’s most marginalized and vulnerable peoples, introducing Bills in support of women’s health and reproductive rights.  In 2017, she successfully brought into law the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Honouring and Awareness Day Act, which provincially proclaims October 4 as a day which honours MMIWG2S and their families. Nahanni’s championship of Indigenous rights is steadfast and unwavering.

Muriel Stanley Venne was born in Lamont, Alberta, in 1937, one of ten children in a Métis farming family. Married at 17, she raised four children on her own after escaping her extremely violent husband. She studied education at the University of Alberta for three years, leaving the program before completing to seek full-time work to support her children. Employed by the Métis Association of Alberta, she initiated the Native Outreach program, working doggedly to persuade employers to hire Indigenous people.

In 1973, Premier Peter Lougheed named Stanley Venne to the new Alberta Human Rights Commission as a commissioner. Later, she chaired the Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights and Justice. Her work on the Commission led her to establish the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women in 1994 to both highlight Indigenous women’s achievements and campaign for an end to discriminatory practices that they faced. The annual Esquao awards celebrated the former while campaigns against injustices faced by Indigenous women in the criminal justice system formed a crucial part of the latter. Among her many honours, she was named to the Order of Canada in 2005 in recognition of her human rights’ activism. In 2017 the Alberta government named one of its buildings the Muriel Stanley Venne Provincial Centre.

Mary Two-Axe Earley was born in 1911 on the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec. She was a Mohawk and Oneida women’s rights activist.

She was denied critical rights under the Indian Act at an intersection of gender and race when she married a non-status man thereby losing her Indian status: she took on the monolith of colonialism and mobilized for change.

From 1876 to 2019, the Indian Act’s status provisions discriminated on the basis of sex, denying First Nations women and their descendants’ status in circumstances where First Nations men and their descendants were entitled to status. Prior to 1985, section 12(1)(b) of the Act operated to strip Indigenous women of their “Indian Status”, the term for registration under the Act, and barred them from passing on their status to their children if they married a man who was non-status. The section also meant that an Indigenous woman who sought a divorce from her status husband would have their status revoked.

Two-Axe Earley worked tirelessly for decades to bring about a change which would stop tying the status of Indian women to their husbands.

Finally, in 1985 the federal government responded to the numerous and ongoing calls for change and passed Bill C-31 to amend the Indian Act. The bill made various changes to the Act, and specifically reinstated status to women who had previously lost their status through marriage to non-Indigenous people. It also gave status to the children of women who regained status under the Act.

Two-Axe Earley continued her work for the remainder of her life, and was a widely celebrated activist, speaker and leader. She died in 1996.

In 1993, Jean Augustine was the first Black Canadian woman elected to Canada’s parliament.

She was born in Grenada where she excelled as a student and became a teacher. But the pay was low and she started looking for opportunities in Canada. In 1960 she arrived in Canada as a nanny. After working as a nanny for a year she went to Toronto’s Teachers’ College and earned a teaching certificate.

Subsequently she taught and volunteered with immigrant groups to improve the lives of immigrant women. In order to advance her teaching prospects she went to the University of Toronto where she earned a BA (Hons) and later a Master of Education degree. She continued teaching later becoming a vice principal and eventually principal in the Toronto District Catholic Schoolboard.

In 1995 Augustine put a motion before Parliament to recognize February as Black History Month. The motion passed unanimously in December 1995 and February was proclaimed Black History Month across Canada.

In 2002 Augustine was appointed Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Status of Women on May 26, 2002 making her the first Black Woman to achieve a cabinet post on parliament.

After achieving a multitude of successes in Parliament Augustine retired from politics but continued to work her work in advocacy. In 2007 she was appointed as Ontario’s first Fairness Commissioner. The Office of the Fairness Commissioner (OFC) ensures that qualified foreign-trained professionals (e.g., in medicine, teaching) can get the required licences to practise in the province.

During Augustine’s tenure, the OFC influenced hundreds of improvements made to licencing procedures in Ontario — improvements that made the process easier to navigate, more transparent and impartial. After eight years at the helm of OFC, Augustine retired in March 2015.

“The federal and provincial governments have enacted no fewer than 17 pieces of legislation since our 1981 convention that are aimed at crippling public sector unions and suspending their rights. The task we have before us is no less than the preservation of a decent, caring, civilized society.” …from Hartman’s retirement speech, 1983.

As a clerk-typist for the township of North York in the mid-fifties, Grace Hartman was outraged over workplace discrimination against women. It sparked an interest in unions that led to a 30-year career as a labour activist. She spent 15 of those years as national secretary-treasurer and then national president of Canada’s largest union.

“Because of her, thousands of working women began to believe they could make a difference,” said CUPE National President Judy Darcy when Grace Hartman died in December 1994 at the age of 75.

Then CLC president Bob White said that before Hartman, public-sector unions were not as active – or growing as quickly – as other unions in the Canadian labour movement. Hartman’s 45-day jail sentence in 1981, for defying an Ontario Supreme Court back-to-work order “was very significant and courageous and a major decision by a large public sector union (leader) to really be a part of the labour movement,” said White.

During the Ontario hospital strike for better pay and bargaining rights, Hartman said she would go to jail if she had to because “if we lie down at this point, they will exploit us in ways that we haven’t even thought about.” She also led the fight against federal government wage controls and freezes in the 1970s.

Over the years, Harman received many honours. They included the Governor General’s Persons Award in 1985, the 1986 YWCA Women of Distinction Award, honourary Doctor of Laws degrees from York and Queen’s universities and induction into the Canadian Labour Hall of Fame.

An activist with the Voice of Women peace group, Hartman is remembered for her grit, courage and unwavering quest for peace and equality.

“Grace’s greatest achievements, without a doubt, are the trails she blazed for women,” said Darcy, “not with rhetoric or fiery speeches, but with quiet determination and firm resolve. She fought for things like pay equity and affirmative action literally decades before they became mainstream.”

Elsie MacGill was born in 1905 in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was the second daughter of Helen Gregory MacGill (1864–1947) and James Henry MacGill (1869–1939).

At age 19, Helen Gregory moved to Toronto with the dream of becoming a concert pianist. She became the first woman to graduate from Trinity College (now the University of Toronto) and was the first woman in the British Empire to earn a degree in music. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts and, in 1890, a Master of Arts degree.

After her first husband died, she worked as a journalist to support her two young sons. The following year, she married former classmate James Henry MacGill. He was a journalist, lawyer and deacon of the Church of England. Helen Gregory MacGill also taught herself law. In 1917, she became the first woman judge appointed in British Columbia.

In 1911, Gregory (now MacGill) led an initiative whereby 12 women’s organizations purchased a large building on Thurlow Street, designated the Vancouver Women’s Building. It served as the first centre of its kind in Canada, providing office and meeting space for women’s groups and dime-a-day childcare. MacGill taught classes there on writing, public speaking and how to conduct and effectively participate in meetings.

MacGill was at the forefront of the fight in British Columbia, which granted women the right to vote in 1917, the same year she became a judge. The action allowed women not only to vote but also to run for and be appointed to public office.

MacGill’s widening circle of friends included painter Emily Carr, who provided young Elsie with art lessons. Another was feminist and social advocate Nelly McClung.

Elsie MacGill attended public school as a child. She then enrolled in applied science at the University of British Columbia in 1921. She finished her first two years of that program. In 1923, MacGill enrolled at the University of Toronto’s School of Practical Science in electrical engineering. This was a bold move, as she was the first woman admitted to the engineering program. Not surprising considering who her mother was and the fact that her maternal grandmother, Emma Gregory, was also a suffragette.

In 1929, she completed her master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. This was a groundbreaking step for women. It effectively made MacGill the first woman aeronautical engineer in the world. However, MacGill’s celebration was cut short when she was diagnosed with polio in 1929.

After her temporary confinement to a wheelchair, MacGill spent time recovering at home in Vancouver. In addition to her physiotherapy regimen, she drafted aircraft designs and wrote articles on aviation for popular publications like Chatelaine. She also participated in some of her mother’s feminist activities. The Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs was among the feminist causes she joined during this period.

In 1938, two important events occurred in MacGill’s career. First, she took a job as chief aeronautical engineer at Canadian Car & Foundry (Can Car) in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. Second, the Engineering Institute of Canada accepted her application for membership. This made her the first woman member of the professional association.

Upon her arrival at Canadian Car & Foundry (Can Car), MacGill undertook many projects. One of these projects was the design, construction and testing of the Maple Leaf II Trainer. While the plane was based on a previous model, MacGill completely re-engineered it and did so at impressive speed. She saw the prototype through to aerial testing very early in her tenure at Can Car. The plane never went into full production in Canada. However, it is recognized as the first aircraft designed and produced by a woman.

After this achievement, MacGill oversaw the retooling of the Can Car plant. She equipped it to mass-produce the Hawker Hurricane. The Hurricane was one of the main fighters flown by Canadian and Allied airmen in the Battle of Britain.

In 1942, the American True Comics series dubbed her “Queen of the Hurricanes” in a story they ran about her.

As a liberal feminist, Elsie MacGill believed in change via the reform of existing laws and policies. She also had some radical ideas for the time. For instance, MacGill believed that women should have full control over their own bodies. She therefore considered the issue of abortion a private matter between a woman and her doctor. (At the time, abortion was illegal under the Canadian Criminal Code. It was decriminalized in 1988.)

After her mother died in 1947, MacGill was determined to capture Helen Gregory MacGill’s important achievements. She published My Mother the Judge: A Biography of Helen Gregory MacGill in 1955. This project served to reignite MacGill’s feminist activism. She championed women’s role in society. In particular, she advocated that Canada would improve with the proper consideration and use of “womanpower.”

From 1967 to 1970, MacGill served on the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. Her co-commissioners acknowledged her as the leading feminist among them. For the rest of her life, MacGill worked to see as many of the report’s 167 recommendations implemented as possible.

MacGill rejected the label “woman engineer.” Her perspective was that she was an engineer, period. The fact that she was a woman did not need to be highlighted. After all, she had proven time and again that her sex in no way impacted her ability to do her job.

On 4 November 1980, MacGill died while visiting her sister, Helen MacGill Hughes, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her loss was a shock to all who knew her. At 75 years of age, MacGill had remained active in her career. The previous year, she had received the Association of Professional Engineers Ontario’s highest honour – the Gold Medal. Her continued feminist activism had included support for the UN’s International Women’s Year in 1975 via the CFBPWC. Among other activities, she had been a member of the Advisory Committee for the International Year of Disabled Persons, which was planned for 1981.

Candace Rennick was elected CUPE’s National Secretary-Treasurer at the union’s 30th National Convention, in November 2021.

Born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Candace Rennick has been a member of CUPE since she began working at a local long-term care facility when she was 16 years old.

Becoming a local union steward and bargaining committee member at the age of 19, Candace was elected President of CUPE Local 2280 at 22, a position she held for seven years. she was first elected to the CUPE Ontario Executive Board in 2002, where she served four terms as a Vice-President.

In 2010, Candace made history when she was elected Secretary-Treasurer of CUPE Ontario becoming the first woman and the youngest person ever elected to the position.

Candace was also a Regional Vice-President on the CUPE National Executive Board, a position she held from 2003 to 2021. During that period she served on a number of national committees, and represented CUPE internationally with the union’s global partner, the Public Services International.

As well, Candace is a member of the Canadian Council of the Canadian Labour Congress.