Persons Day 2024!

If you haven't heard about Persons Day in Canada before, I challenge you to take a look at this important history! There are some great materials available from Women and Gender Equality Canada 

An excellent book on the subject, if you want to dig deeper is here:

An evening with the CFUW Nepean Chapter

I am really looking forward to speaking with the members of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) Nepean Chapter on October 17, 2024!  An evening chat about Elsie during Women's History Month and on the eve of Persons Day!

Persons Day - Think about it!

Today is Persons Day in Canada which commemorates when Canadian women were legally recognized as Persons in 1929. This significant event opened a wide range of possibilities to women including being able to sit in the Senate and opened more avenues for women in various other avenues of life.

When I talk about Elsie MacGill seeing societal change I usually reference women earning the vote in the provinces and nationally and Persons Day because these events occurred early in her life and had demonstrated what could be possible, and she never stopped believing in women's power to effect change! 

Take some time to reflect on this important history via some of these sources:

Women and Gender Equality Canada

https://law.queensu.ca/news/Persons-Day-Recognizing-Canadas-roots-in-advancing-gender-equality

 

Top flight way to celebrate Women's History Month!!

October is Women's History Month is Canada!  It is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the incredibly diverse ways that Canadian women have helped shape our country's history!  My publisher Second Story Press has a fantastic promotion to help you celebrate: for each copy of Queen of the Hurricanes: The Fearless Elsie MacGill that is sold via their website, a commemorative $1 circulation coin will be included! 

Don't miss this great opportunity! 

For more information, see their Facebook page!

#ElsieMacGill #RoyalCanadianMint #FeministHistory #Women'sHistoryMonth #HawkerHurricane #Promotion

Remembering Monique Bégin

It was with sadness that I heard the news that Monique Bégin had passed away. She was such a trailblazer and was one of the only people besides Elsie MacGill who was a self-proclaimed feminist prior to working on the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during those meetings, to learn from all the debates and discussions that took place, and Monique was there through it all. 

Her career after the Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women was published is distinguished including both important political files as an MP and key academic roles at the University of Ottawa. I was privileged to be able to speak to her briefly during my research and that is something that I hold dear. 

For more information on this incredible feminist see: 

-the CBC article

-The Canadian Encyclopedia 

Great article by John Chalmers!

I have had the pleasure of connecting with John Chalmers, of the The Canadian Aviation Historical Society Membership on more then one occasion regarding Elsie MacGill over the years. His recent article about the launch of the $1 commemorative circulation coin honouring Elsie MacGill is a wonderful account of that special day!

The BPW Connection

 

It was great to reconnect with some friends from the Business and Professional Women’s Clubs during the $1 commemorative coin launch honouring Elsie MacGill. During Elsie’s lifetime the organization was known as the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women, and she played a prominent position in the organization as a member, then as provincial President of Ontario (1956-58 and subsequently national president (1962-64).

It was therefore fitting to see Karin Gorgerat, BPW Immediate Past National President, Shannon McEwing, BPW Canada First Vice President, and Colleen Babiuk-Ilkiw BPW Canada Vice President, at the event!