Browse "Political Activists"

Displaying 16-29 of 29 results

  • Article

    Famous Five (Plain-Language Summary)

    The “Famous Five” were the women behind the Persons Case. It was a constitutional ruling. It established the right of women to serve in the Senate. It ruled in 1929 that women were persons in the eyes of the law. The case was started by the Famous Five. They were a group of women activists. They were led by justice Emily Murphy. The other women were Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby. The five had been working for women’s rights since the 1880s and 1890s. This article is a plain-language summary of the Famous Five. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Famous Five.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/65699b89-06c0-4518-aa06-4eea43f2ec74.jpg Famous Five (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    George Hislop

    George Hislop, entrepreneur, advocate for gay and lesbian rights (born 3 June 1927 in Toronto ON; died 8 October 2005 in Toronto, ON). One of the most visible spokespersons for queer people throughout the 1980s, George Hislop was known as the “unofficial mayor of the Toronto gay community.” In 1971, he helped establish the Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT). It became a major advocate for gays and lesbians as they struggled against police harassment and other forms of homophobia. In 1980, he ran for a seat on Toronto City Council — one of the first openly gay individuals to run for office. In 2001, Hislop became the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the federal government. It pressed for equal recognition of federal pension benefits for gay couples. The plaintiffs won in 2007, shortly after Hislop’s death.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/George_Hislop_TweetOnly.jpg George Hislop

  • Article

    Gerald Caplan

    Gerald Lewis Caplan, political administrator, historian (b at Toronto 1938).

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    https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Gerald Caplan

  • 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.”

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/HelenArmstrong/Helen_Armstrong_SIS_P7199_12-resize.jpg Helen (Ma) Armstrong

  • Article

    James Lundrigan

    James Lundrigan, Conception Bay fisherman (fl 1818-30). In 1819 Lundrigan and fellow fisherman Philip Butler were involved in a court case which gave great impetus to the agitation for representative government.

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    https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 James Lundrigan

  • Article

    Jeanne Corbin

    Jeanne Henriette Corbin, communist activist and union organizer (born in March 1906 in Cellettes, France; died 7 May 1944 in London, Ontario). A member of the Communist Party of Canada and secretary of the Canadian Labour Defense League, she defended the rights of Canadian workers for over 15 years. She gained particular prominence for her role in the lumber workers’ strike in Rouyn, Quebec in 1933.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/2ad1f0fc-7e98-4378-a44f-ba8006eada39.jpg Jeanne Corbin

  • Article

    Jim Egan

    James Leo (Jim) Egan, gay activist, writer, politician, environmental activist (born 14 September 1921 in Toronto, ON; died 9 March 2000 in Courtenay, BC). Egan was the first person to publish long articles written from a gay point of view in Canada. He was also one of the first openly gay politicians to serve in Canada. Egan is best remembered for a court challenge he and his partner, Jack Nesbit, launched against the spousal allowance benefit under the Old Age Security Act in 1988. In the subsequent Egan v. Canada decision (1995), the Supreme Court read in that sexual orientation is a protected ground of discrimination in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — a monumental finding in support of LGBTQ2 rights in Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/jim-egan-tweet.jpg Jim Egan

  • Article

    John Callihoo

    John Callihoo, politician, Indigenous-rights leader (born on Michel First Nation, Alberta 1882; died in St Albert, Alberta 11 Aug 1957). Of Haudenosaunee-Cree descent and self-educated, he was a freighter and then a farmer, but his leadership capabilities soon made him a rallying point for Indigenous causes.

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    https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 John Callihoo

  • Article

    Maisie Hurley

    Maisie Hurley, née Maisie Amy Campbell-Johnston, Vancouver-area political activist, Indigenous ally (see Indigenous Peoples in Canada), newspaper founder and art collector (born 27 November 1887 in Swansea, Wales; died 3 October 1964 in North Vancouver, British Columbia). Although Hurley had no formal legal training or law degree (see Legal Education), she worked on several legal cases and advocated for Indigenous peoples’ basic human rights as well as for changes to the Indian Act. In 1946, Hurley started a newspaper called The Native Voice that aimed to bring attention to important issues concerning Indigenous communities across Canada (see Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada). In 2011, Hurley’s collection of Indigenous art was displayed at the North Vancouver Museum. 

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Untitled-11.jpg Maisie Hurley

  • Article

    Masumi Mitsui

    Masumi Mitsui, MM, farmer, soldier, Canadian Legion official (born 7 October 1887 in Tokyo, Japan; died 22 April 1987 in Hamilton, ON). Masumi Mitsui immigrated to Canada in 1908 and served with distinction in the First World War. In 1931, he and his comrades persuaded the BC government to grant Japanese Canadian veterans the right to vote, a breakthrough for Japanese and other disenfranchised Canadians. Nevertheless, Matsui and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were displaced, detained and dispossessed by the federal government during the Second World War (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MasumiMitsui/2010-23-2-4-551.jpg Masumi Mitsui

  • Article

    Mumilaaq Qaqqaq

    Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, Inuk Member of Parliament (born 4 November 1993 in Baker Lake, NU). In 2019, Qaqqaq became, at age 25, Nunavut’s youngest MP in history, and the first from the New Democratic Party (NDP) since Nunavut became a territory in 1999. Before entering politics, Qaqqaq was a public speaker and activist who raised awareness of the various crises that Inuit face (suicide, food insecurity, housing, climate).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MumilaaqQaqqaq/Mumilaaq_Qaqqaq_CBC_image.jpeg Mumilaaq Qaqqaq

  • Article

    Nathalie Provost

    Nathalie Provost, PC, Secretary of State (Nature), Member of Parliament, engineer, gun control activist (born in 1966). As a survivor of the femicide that occurred on 6 December 1989 at Montreal’s École Polytechnique (see École Polytechnique Tragedy), she is a well-renowned and socially engaged anti-gun activist. In 2025, she was elected as Liberal Member of Parliament for Châteauguay–Les Jardins-de-Napierville. She was then appointed Secretary of State for Nature under Mark Carney’s government.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Nathalie-Provost.jpg Nathalie Provost

  • Article

    Paul Rose

    Paul Rose, Québecois indépendantiste leader, terrorist, unionist (born 16 October 1943 in Montreal, Quebec; died 14 March 2013 in Montreal). He was a member of the Chénier Cell, also known as the South Shore Gang, of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) and a key player in the October Crisis. On 13 March 1971, he was sentenced for the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte, a minister in the government of Quebec.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/single_use_images/Paul_Rose.jpg Paul Rose

  • Article

    Stanley G. Grizzle

    Stanley George Sinclair Grizzle, CM, OOnt, citizenship judge, politician, civil servant, labour union activist (born 18 November 1918 in Toronto, ON; died 12 November 2016 in Toronto, ON). Stanley Grizzle had an illustrious career as a railway porter, soldier, civil servant, citizenship judge and activist for the rights of Black Canadians.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/Twitter_Cards/Grizzle.jpg Stanley G. Grizzle