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“The Other Woman: Lizzie Cyr and the Origins of the ‘Persons Case’”*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

David Bright
David Bright
Affiliation:
Department of History, The University of Calgary
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Abstract

In 1929, the British Privy Council reversed an earlier ruling by Canada's Supreme Court that Canadian women did not, under the British North America Act, qualify as persons. Historians have long heralded this so-called ‘Persons Case’ as a turning point in the recognition of Canadian women's rights. However, little attention has been paid to the case's origins, which date back to the trial of an alleged prostitute in Calgary in 1917. That case successfully tested the right of women to hold high public office in Alberta – in this case, Calgary Police Magistrate Alice Jamieson – and began the subsequent twelve-year battle. However, this victory was achieved only at the expense of the rights of another woman: the alleged prostitute Lizzie Cyr. At best, then, the ‘Persons Case’ should be regarded as a tainted victory.

Résumé

En 1929, le Conseil privé de Grande-Bretagne renversait un arrêt de la Cour suprême du Canada à l'effet qu'en vertu du British North America Act les Canadiennes ne pouvaient être considérées comme des personnes. Les historiens ont souvent qualifié cette «Affaire des personnes» de point tournant dans la reconnaissance des droits des femmes au Canada. Cependant, on a porté peu d'attention aux origines de cette affaire, qui remonte au procès d'une présumée prostituée de Calgary en 1917. Cette cause allait être le point de départ d'une bataille juridique de douze ans pour faire reconnaître le droit des femmes à occuper un poste dans la haute fonction publique albertaine, en l'occurrence celui de magistrat de police d'Alice Jamieson. Cependant, cette victoire fut acquise seulement aux dépens des droits d'une autre femme, la présumée prostituée Lizzie Cyr. Il faudrait donc, au mieux, considérer l'«Affaire des personnes» comme une victoire mitigée.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , Fall/automne 1998 , pp. 99 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 1998

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References

1. Quoted in (1928–1929) Canadian Annual Review at 66. See also Franca Iocavetta, “‘A Respectable Feminist’: The Political Career of Wilson, Senator Cairine, 1921–1962” in Kealey, Linda & Sangster, Joan, eds., Beyond the Vote: Canadian Women and Politics (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989) 63.Google Scholar

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36. Valverde, supra note 8 at 78. See also Bright, supra note 28 at 48–50.

37. In addition to works by Backhouse and Larsen cited above, see also Parker, supra note 16.

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39. King vs Waters, supra note 31 at 10.

40. Ibid. at 10–11.

41. Ibid. at 5–8.

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47. Alta L.R., ibid. at 324–25; W.W.R., ibid. at 1188.

48. Alta L.R., ibid. at 326; (1917) 3 W.W.R., supra note 31 at 850.

49. Alta L.R., ibid. at 336; W.W.R., ibid. at 858–59.

50. Alta L.R., ibid. at 336; W.W.R., ibid. at 859.

51. Ibid.

52. Alta L.R., ibid. at 337–38; W.W.R., ibid. at 860.