'Pink tea' event marks 95th anniversary of landmark women's rights case

High school students and trailblazing Island politicians gathered in Summerside, P.E.I., on Friday to mark the 95th anniversary of a milestone case for women's rights in Canada.

The "Pink Tea" event at Three Oaks Senior High School commemorated a 1929 legal decision known widely as the Persons Case, a landmark victory that saw women officially declared "persons" under Canadian law.

"It was such an important moment in the history of women's rights in Canada," said Malak Elfadil, a Grade 12 student who helped organize the event.

"I think them winning that case wasn't just to help women at that time, but it also set the stage for more progress in gender equality."

The event's pink tea theme harkens back to an era of covert political activism, Elfadil explained on CBC's Island Morning earlier this week.

Canadian women once held events called pink teas, she said, using the label as a sort of code name to disguise the true purpose of gatherings where women educated one another about the law in a push for political equality.

The historic legal victory of Oct. 18, 1929, was due to the persistence of five Alberta women: Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards.

These women came to be known as Canada's "Famous Five."

Their battle began in 1916, when lawyers challenged Judge Emily Murphy's rulings because she was not considered a "person" under Canadian law.

By 1927, the Alberta women had garnered support from all across Canada, and petitioned Canada's Supreme Court to recognize women as having equal standing under the law with men. After five weeks of debate, their appeal was unanimously denied.

But the women didn't give up, taking the fight to the Privy Council of the British government, which at the time was the ultimate authority in Canadian law. They eventually won their case, paving the way for Cairine Wilson to become the first woman sworn in as a member of the Canadian Senate in 1930.

By the way, P.E.I. had its own Famous Five — named in homage to the women behind the Persons Case. They earned the group nickname in 1993 when women held five top positions on the Island at the same time: lieutenant-governor, premier, leader of the official opposition, speaker and deputy speaker.

Former premier Catherine Callbeck was a member of P.E.I.'s Famous Five as well as the first woman to be elected to a premier's position in all of Canada. (Women had previously taken over as premier when a sitting premier of a province resigned and left office without an election being called.)

Callbeck and the two other surviving members of the P.E.I. five — Pat Mella and Libbe Hubley — were present at the pink tea event in Summerside Friday.