Born Lorna Benjamin, Trinidad. She emigrated to Canada in 1969. In the 1970’s she took an African name Akua meaning a girl born on Wednesday. She earned her PhD at the University of Toronto in Social work. By 1988 she was teaching at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her personal social work included outreach in over 1 dozen women of colour communities. She was President of the Congress of Black Women in Toronto and a founding member of the Coalition of Visible Minority Women and the National Coalition of Visible Minority Women. She aim is addressing poverty, oppression and discrimination. In 1986 she was the winner of the Constance E. Hamilton Award which recognizes efforts in equitable treatment for women from the City of Toronto. In 2001 she participated in the United Nations Conference on Racism. She is currently the Director of the School of Social Work at Ryerson University. In 2005 she was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 1000 Women of Peace Project. Source: Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006)  pg. 72..

She earned her BA at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Following a career as a journalist and communications professional,  she worked as a gay rights activist and established a national reputation. She and her partner are mothers of three children. Their son has Downs Syndrome and Allison became a forceful advocate for people with disabilities. In 1994 she worked to establish the Morgentaler Abortion Clinic in Fredericton, New Brunswick. In 1995 she represented Canadian women in the Beijing United Nations World Conference expanding her support for gays and lesbians everywhere. Moving to Nunavut in 200o she worked as the vice President of Quilliit-Nunavut Status of Women. She was a founder of the Iqaluit Pride and Friends of Pride and was a driving force behind exclusion of sexual orientation in the Nunavut Human Rights Act. In 2004 she was recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case. In the fall of 2005 she began a year long leadership for the New Brunswick New Democratic Party She continues to be an activist while raising her teenagers. Suggested sources: Herstory: a Canadian women’s calendar 2007.

née Morrison. Born London, England 1945. Died January 23, 2006. She married David Cohen and settled in Montreal and raised three children. In 1982 she married Charles Bronfman and became active in several philanthropic causes in North America and Israel. After 9/11 she created a program, the Gift of New York. She was also involved in Birthright Israel and the Association of Israel’s Decorative arts.

Born India 1912. Died January 15, 1988. Educated in England she began her working career as a teacher of languages in Germany until the Nazi regime forced her to relocate. She eventually settled in Canada in 1959. She became president of the Association of Women Electors in the 1960’s and was an active member of the Metropolitan Toronto Social Planning Council. She also served as a member of the Metro Toronto Housing C. Ltd. Which acted as the city’s public housing agency.

Sister Marie de la Nativité

Born Lower Canada January 27,1794. Died  April 5, 1864. She married at 17 years of age to Jean-Marie Jetté , October 7, 1811. The two would have eleven children. As a widow she opened her home to care for unwed mothers. In 1895 she became an nun and took the name  Sister Marie de la Nativité with the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy where she continued her efforts to help young pregnant girls. Source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol. lX pg. 111-112

In 1974 the Montreal Citizens Movement (MCM) / Rassemblement des citoyens et citoyennes de Montréal (RMC) was formed and Léa was right there. She would become the first woman to be elected president of a municipal political party in Quebec. She was instrumental in changes to the Montréal Police Service, leading to the hiring of more women police officers and more transparent and community-friendly approach to policing. She was elected as a city councilor from 1986 through 1994. Léa was also a member of the Status of Women Council and Associated Deputy Minister responsible for the status of women in Quebec. She was a strong force in the establishment of a programme analyzing differentials between genders and a grant programme enabling Quebec women to maintain involvement in regional development. In 2004 she was a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person Case. Suggested sources: 2004 recipients of the Governor General’s Awards in Commemoration of the Person Case Online (Accessed November 2008)

Née Sternberg. Born Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Died April 26, 1988. She was a community volunteer who worked with over one dozen organizations within her community including the B’Nai B’rith Women’s Organization, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Hadassah-Wizo Organization, the Council of Jewish Women, the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Young Women’s Hebrew Association, the Winnipeg United Appeal, the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Winnipeg Hear Fund, the Society of Crippled Children and the Multiple Sclerosis Society to name a few. Her volunteerism behind the scenes was an essential force that runs the organizations and without which such organizations cannot function.

née Gronlund Born New Brunswick 1894 (?) Died January 2, 1988. She completed her post secondary studies at Mount Allison University. For her work in Halifax during World War ll she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. She served as the chair of the Regional Advisory Committee of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. In 1945 she organized the National Clothing Collection for Europe to help families suffering from the devastation of World War ll. She was also a member of the executive of the IODE, the Nova Scotia Tuberculosis Association and the Halifax Children’s Hospital Auxiliary. She was active with the Mount Allison University Federated Alumni and received a honourary degree from that institution.

née Bell. Born Dublin Ireland 1899. Died May 17, 1988. She attended the University of Manitoba and as a young woman she and her sport partner Art Snell, won the Canadian mixed doubles Badminton Championship. She settled down to a married life which included dedication to volunteering. She would pioneer the establishment of hospital gift shops through out Ontario. The idea of the hospital gift shop was for hospital auxiliaries to raise needed funding. She was the founder of the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. And became dedicated to the provincial organization as Vice President of the Hospital Auxiliaries Association of Ontario. She travelled extensively throughout the province encouraging fund raising with the help of the Gift Shop. 

Born Fort Alexander, Manitoba  June 29, 1912. Died August 10, 1988. She married young and became a busy mother of 15 children. She somehow always found time to serve her community as an elected band counselor and as a counselor at Camp Neecheewan. In 1953 she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Coronation Medal of service to her community.

She studied to be a nurse and then went on to teach in the health field. She has spent most of her life working for the rights of women and disadvantaged groups. She has helped families living in violence with the establishment of Carrefour por femmes, a shelter for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. She has reached out to guide men inclined to violence and is co-founder of Groupe Option that helps these men. A sexual and gender harassment counselor she has worked as an international solidarity education coordinator at the University of Moncton in New Brunswick. She chaired the Pay Equity Coalition in New Brunswick and established the New Brunswick Committee for the World March of Women.  She also serves as spokesperson for the Concerned Citizens Committee for Peace / Comité pour la paix. She received the 1996 New Brunswick Human Rights Award and in 2004 the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person Case. Suggested sources: Recipients of the Governor General’s Awards in Commemoration of the Person Case. Online (accessed November 2008)

Philanthropist

Philanthropist

Philanthropist

Née Messina. Born Italy 1920. She arrived in Canada as a child with her widowed mother in 1929. They settled in downtown Ottawa and she has become a cornerstone of Ottawa’s Italian Village. For 45 years from 1952-1997 she was a freelance court interpreter making certain that new immigrants were understood and could themselves understand. In the 1950’s she stepped up to help her family of three children when her husband suffered a series of work injuries. She studied and opened her own real estate business becoming the first Italian Canadian woman in Canada in the profession. She and her staff of 16 worked advising new immigrants on how to buy modest homes with affordable down payments. She was the founder of the Independent Realtor’s Association. She is proud that none of the families she helped never lost their homes to mortgage problems.

née Dodds. Born Clute, Ontario October 5, 1925. Born and raised on a farm in northern Ontario she would marry Raymond ‘Bud” Johnson and the couple would raise their five children on a northern Ontario farm. During WW II she taught school on a letter of permit and continued to work in local schools as a supply teacher and in the school library. Later in life she was also elected to the Board of Education for North Eastern Ontario. An active member of her church, she has always enjoyed being a member of the choir, serves as a councilor and worked on writing a constitution for the newly formed Unified Council of her local church. She has had a long standing interest in the Federated Women’s Institutes enjoying membership and all the activities. She has also performed administrative positions form local and area president, 1983-1986 President of the Federated Women’s Institute of Ontario and in July 1991 she became president elect of the national Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada. She was responsible for a written presentation  to the Associated Country Women of the World for their revised constitution.  She would be one of the women chosen to represent Canada at the world Conference on Women in Beijing, China.   November 2, 2006 Charlotte was the recipient of an Honourary Fellowship from Huntington University, Sudbury, Ontario. Sources: Personal interview with Charlotte Johnson; Federation of Women’s Institutes of Ontario Http://fwio.on.ca/contribute/about/Mrs R.B. Johnson (accessed December 2008); Huntington University Http://huntington.laurentian.ca (Accessed January 2009)

née Marryat. Born London, England January 9 , 1868. Died July 12, 1965.  Irene came to Canada in 1896 and shortly after met and married Walter Parlby. The couple would have one son. In 1916- 1919 she was elected president of the United Farm Women of Alberta and destined to become actively involved in the agrarian movement. In 1921 she was elected to the Alberta government as member for Lacombe. She was a Minister without Portfolio with the responsibility for issues surrounding women and children. However she had no budget to go with her mandate. Ahead of her time perhaps in 1925 she introduced a Community of Property Bill that served the legal recognition of women’s domestic work. It failed to pass. She was a popular member of the provincial legislature with the electorate who put her back in office in 1926 and again in 1930-35. She was a member of the Canadian delegation to the organization of the League of nations, the forerunner of the United Nations. As a member of the Famous Five women who championed the famous Persons Case to have women declared “person” in a legal sense in 1927 she has left a lasting legacy to the women of Canada. The Famous Five are pictured on the Back of the Canadian fifty dollar bill. Suggested resources: Irene Marryat Parlby – Celebrating Women’s Achievements/ Women in Canadian Legislatures. Library and Archives Canada. On Line; Famous 5  Foundation www.famous5.ca.

Born Saskatchewan 1924. She was trained as a nurse and became a medical missionary with the United Church of Canada. She is one who makes friends wherever she works. She studied Portuguese in Portugal before heading to Angola where she learned the local language of Umbundu. At home In Canada, she upgraded her nursing skills and learned French and then off to the Congo and Zaire. She was forced to return to Canada after contacting Tuberculosis and malaria. Once recuperated she returned to Northern Canada where she earned her pilot’s license so that she could have easier access to northern communities. She found time to be married in 1978 while doing her travels. She also  worked with Canadian University Services in Nicaragua. Leaving the work in remote global areas to younger people she retired in 1994 allowing herself time to earn a degree in modern language and to express herself in writing poetry and her memoirs. Suggested sources: Herstory: a Canadian women’s calendar 2007.

Born near Kampala, Uganda 1947. Died May 4, 2006. Second of 12 children she was fortunate that her father believed both his sons and daughters deserved equal education. After she graduated university with a degree in medicine, Dr. Joyce set up a clinic and would become a district medical officer of health. She married a school headmaster who was a budding businessman. In 1983 revolution was in the air and her husband was kidnapped and killed. Joyce quickly mover her family and went into hiding in Kenya. She remarried and she and her new blended family moved to start a new life in Canada. She took a job with the Ontario Ministry of health and after working hours devoted her life to her family of 10 ( the last child was born in Canada). She also worked for the Toronto Uganda community founding the Uganda Martyrs Church and prepared reports on wife assault in the Canadian African Community. She promoted AIDS awareness among young immigrants and mentored many newcomers setting up a system helping single African women access to Social Services. To her, she was never able to provide enough help. When she died she has almost accomplished the establishment of a Community Learning Centre in Uganda with the help of her Canadian church. The Centre has now been completed. Source: “Joyce Nsubuga, 59: Met Uganda’s needs.” By Catherine Dunphy. The Toronto Star July 14, 2006.

Senator and child health and children's right advocate

née Mackenzie Born November 16, 1930 Toronto, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a Masters degree in Education  in 1951. That same year she married Geoffrey Pearson, son of Prime Minister L.B. Pearson, and a Canadian Foreign Service Officer.  The couple would have a family of five children, and live in France, Mexico, India and the Soviet Union. In each country, Landon not only was concerned for her own children but observed and marveled at each of the country’s children’s survival skills. Turning  concern into action she served on various commissions, organizations and committees dealing with the welfare and rights of children. In 1974 she founded Children Learning for Living. In 1979 she was vice chair of the Canadian Commission for the International Year of the Child. The committee report has had many of its recommendations accomplished with the help of her activities including abused children and women’s safety, income tax deductions for child care costs and regulations for infant car seats. Appointed to the Senate of Canada (1994-2005) she carried on her efforts for children around the world. She co-founded the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children and the monies from a book published in 2003 were given to Street Kids International. In 2005 she was designated by the Nobel Prize group as one of the 1000 Women of Peace Project. In 2006 she opened the Landon Pearson Resource Centre for the Study of Childhood and Children’s Rights.  In 2008 she was inducted an Officer in the Order of Canada. Source: Fiery God Mother by Thom Barker Ottawa City June/July 2004 P. 44-48 : 1000 Peace Women Across the Globe. On line ( accessed June 2008)

née Le Drew. Born St John’s, Newfoundland August 16 1932. Died January 27, 2006. In the 1960’s, Jackie was a consumer advocate to be reckoned with and an activist to whom people listened. In 1967 she formed the Consumer Housewives Union and convinced members to picket food warehouses. A strong supporter of the New Democratic Party in politics she was an unsuccessful NDP federal candidate for York West in 1968. She spearheaded a fight for better housing for low-income residents and helped convince the government of the day to pass legislation that banned landlords from refusing to rent to people with children.

Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. April 1, 1941. After high school she attended Akiba Hebrew Academy where she was introduced to the social justice concept to make the world more tolerant. A concept that would remain with her and guide her life. She earned her BA at Bernard College and a teaching certificate from Temple University in Philadelphia. At Stanford University she studied  theatre. She and her physician husband Michael immigrated to Canada in 1967 in protest to the war in Viet Nam. Bonnie worked for the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal in the late 1960’s. By the 1980’s she had made dozens of movies in the NFB’s famous women’s STUDIO D while raising her two children. Perhaps the best known work was Not a Love Story: a film about pornography / C’est surtout pas de l’amour: un film sur la pronographie. In 1987 she survived two debilitating brain-stem strokes that resulted in her becoming a quadriplegic and requiring a respirator to breathe. She spent three years in full time rehabilitation. During this time she kept writing and taped her journals . From these notes she produced an award winning movie about coping with disabilities.  She became co-founder of the Society for Disability Arts and Culture and was producer of the pioneering Kickstart Festival of Disability Arts and Culture for whom she made a movie of the  same name in 2003. In 2004 she was presented with the Governor’s General Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case recognizing outstanding contributions to quality of life for women in Canada. Source. Library and Archives Canada. Bonnie Sherr Klein: Canadian women in film. Celebrating Women’s Achievements. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/ (accessed June 2006) This site includes an extensive bibliography.

Born Alberta. In 1959 she studied and earned her Practical Nursing Certificate at Edmonton University Hospital in Alberta. Almost from the beginning she became involved with volunteer work with the police, school systems, and hospitals to preserve aboriginal traditions and ensure a promising future. From 1980 through 1993 she was president of Plains Indian Cultural Survival School in Calgary. A Cree Nation Elder her efforts have earned her the Alberta Human Rights Award and she has been inducted into the Thunder Bay (Ontario) Elder’s Circle. In 1994 she represented Canada on a United Nations working group on world indigenous populations. In 1996 she founded and is currently executive Director of the Canadian Indigenous Women’s Resource Institute which has a mandate to keep traditional teachings alive in Calgary. In 2005 she was awarded the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Heritage and Spirituality. That same year she was nominated of the Nobel Peace Prize 1000 Women of Peace Project. Source: Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006)  pg. 36

née van Griethuysen. Born The Netherlands 1929. Died June 22, 2006. She was educated in Belgium. Her family was actually forced to leave Holland when they were found to be harboring Jewish families during World War ll. She joined the navy after high school and after the war she worked in the Belgian Red Cross with freed concentration camp survivors and liberated Russians. She married and the young couple who would have two children, immigrated to Canada in 1951. When John took a job with NATO the family moved to Italy where Ernestine published a handbook for new NATO scientists and their families. In 1971 they were living in Etobicoke, Ontario and Ernestine asked for space to set up a table and a chair in a mall to distribute information for her Rexdale. Community Information Directory. In 1977 she began a legal clinic to help advise immigrants and even though she did not have a law degree she served as director of the clinic for many years. This would grow into the Rexdale Community Information and Legal Services offices. Ernestine’s Women Shelter in Rexdale was named for her in 1983. She was so honoured that she took a seat on the Board. She also founded the Federation of Community Information Centres and the Association of Community Information Centres in Ontario as well as championing the Jean Tweed Centre for Addicted women. Source: Ernestine van Merle, 80: The Heart of Rexdale’….by Catherine Dunphy, The Toronto Starr September 5, 2006.  

Née Goldfarb. Born Jetomir, Ukraine. June 30,1919. Died December 15, 2003. She was one of five children and she was often referred to as the “showoff”. She studied at the Moscow Yiddish Art Theatre and enjoyed her profession. However, with the dangers of World War II she fled to Kazakhstan where she performed at the State Theatre. It was here that she also met her husband Shura (Sam) Wasserman. The rest of the Wasserman family were killed during the war so Dora and Sam took their two daughters and entered Canada as refugees in 1950. Dora soon was working at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal and dramatic presentations soon followed. In 1956 she founded the Yiddish Dram Group which became the Yiddish Theatre in 1967. The Theatre kept the culture and language alive as Dora provided works and translations for plays. The theatre company itself has performed in both the U.S.A and Europe to great reviews. In 1992 she was recognized for her efforts with the Order of Canada and in 1993 the Order of Quebec. She was also the recipient of the Masques Award for lifetime achievement in theatre. After a stroke made it difficult for her to continue her work her daughter took over the theatre to assure its continence. Suggested Sources: Herstory: the Canadian women’s calendar, 2007 ; Jean-Marc Larrue, “Dora Wasserman est décédér…” Le Devoir, Décembre 18, 2003.

Born Kuujiuaq, Quebec December 2, 1953. Her mother was a well known healer and no doubt taught her daughter about living with the environment. Her brother, Charlie, is a Canadian member of the Senate, and no doubt accounts for some of her interest in politics. She was sent at 10 years of age, to Nova Scotia and then Churchill Manitoba for her education. She continued studies at McGill University at Montreal. A mother of two children she has been a life long social activist who has gained international clout. She is recognized for her all out efforts on behalf of the Artic indigenous peoples world wide. She is a contemporary champion against persistent organic pollutants (POP’s) and has served as President of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada) In 2005 she was awarded the generous and coveted SOPHIE Award from Norway for her efforts to draw the world’s attention to the devastating effects of climate change and of emissions of toxic chemicals.

née Doreen Mary Curtis Bristol, England 1935. Died March 1, 2004. She was in training as a nurse when she met and married Ben Wicks. The young couple emigrated to Calgary , Alberta in 1957 with the grand sum of $25.00 in their pockets. By 1963 the young family with three children moved to Toronto where Ben could pursue his promising career as a cartoonist, author and international journalist. Doreen worked at Sunnybrook Hospital as a nurse. On a visit to Haiti Doreen was overcome by the sight of poverty suffering and disease of young mothers and children. She quite her job and founded Global Education Medical Supplies …GEMS of Hope. She recycled medical equipment and pleaded for donations of drugs for the impoverished in 50 third world countries around the globe. She travelled the globe on her own often entering war torn countries. In 1987-1988 she was appointed by the federal government as a Citizenship Judge. In 1989 her dedication of service was recognized by her appointment to the Order of Canada. Ben Wicks had received the Order of Canada in 1986 and they become the first husband and wife to have received the Order of Canada.  Source: Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006)  pg. 86..