By 1927, the women have garnered support all across Canada. They petition the nation's Supreme Court. After five weeks of debate, the appeal is unanimously denied.
Shocked, the women take the fight to the Privy Council of the British government; in those days Canada's highest court.
On Oct. 18, 1929, they win.
It happened 78 years ago today. The Privy Council ruling overturned the Supreme Court decision. Unlike most of the politicians today the Councilors didn't believe that the "courts had spoken" and that Supreme Court was always right. They saw the injustice and they did what it took to correct it.
Today, there are still people that are deemed "unpersons" under Canadian law. Every year, over four hundred thousand Canadians must live through 9 months of having no legal protection whatsoever. Those are the unborn. Over 100,000 of them don't live to see daylight. Once again, it was the Supreme Court that upheld the injustice. But this time Canadians have no right to appeal.
from Confederation until 1947, we Canadians had the right to appeal decisions of the Supreme Court to the Privy Council. The most famous example of this right being exercised was in 1927-29, after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not ‘persons’; five Alberta women whose statues now grace Parliament Hill—the ‘Famous Five’—appealed that decision and won.
The Preamble to the Charter mentions the supremacy of God. But the charter itself has established the supremacy of the Supreme Court - which is deemed infallible. Could a belief that a certain branch of the government is never wrong (in this case - the judiciary) have ever resulted in anything good? It's time for Canadians to reclaim back their right to appeal the Supreme court decisions. It's time for the Person Day for the unborn.
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