Powerful Canadian Women Quiz | People by Country

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In Nova Scotia in 1946, this woman of colour refused to leave a whites only section of a movie theatre and was jailed for it. She did not 'bow' to the pressure, and her actions led to the end of segregation in the province.

Answer: Viola Desmond

Viola Desmond (1914-1965) was dragged from the theatre and was charged with a tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat she had paid for and the more expensive seat she actually used.

In 2010, she was posthumously pardoned and an apology was issued by the Crown-in-Right-of-Nova Scotia in recognition that her actions were based on resisting racial discrimination. In 2018 she was named a 'Person of National Historic Significance' in Canada, and her image was chosen to grace the $10 bill.

2. Became the first female Alderman in the British Empire when elected to the Calgary City Council in 1917. You could say she 'blew' away the competition.

Answer: Hannah (Annie) Gale

Annie Gale (1876-1970) was born in England and emigrated to Canada, settling in Calgary in 1925 with her husband William and two children. Soon after arriving, she became active in her community and with the Women's Suffrage movement. Having helped improve the quality of many goods and services in the Calgary area, in addition to working with the Free Hospital League (lobbying free health services), she was encouraged to run for municipal office.

While she wasn't quite the first woman to achieve an elected government position (two women had been elected to the Provincial Legislature earlier that year), she *was* the first woman elected as an Alderman. She served the City of Calgary from 1918 to 1924. She is quoted as saying, "I have always believed that the mission of women in political life was to clean up politics."

3. She spent two decades lobbying against the law that disallowed First Nations women to retain their Status when marrying a non-Aboriginal. Eventually, she 'cut' through the government red tape, successfully having the law repealed in 1985.

Answer: Mary Two-Axe Earley

Mary Two-Axe Earley (1911-1996) was a Mohawk woman from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (in Quebec) who left the reserve for New York as a teen. While there she married an Irish-American man by the name of Edward Earley. According to the Indian Act of 1876, any native woman who married a non-Status man would also lose their Status. This meant that she could no longer live on the reserve, or even be buried there upon her death.

In 1968, Mary founded the "Equal Rights for Native Women" association, and her activism caught the attention of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, which led to a recommendation two years later to amend the Indian Act in its treatment of women (the same rules didn't apply to men). With the adoption of Bill C-31 in 1985, after nearly 20 years, Status was returned to thousands of First Nations women and their children as their rights were brought in line with those of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

4. If she'd 'had children', they would have been proud of this union organizer and social activist who spent a lifetime fighting for the working class, women, and minorities in Quebec. And she was a founding member of the National Action Committee on The Status of Women in 1972.

Answer: Madeleine Parent

Madeleine Parent (1918-2012) took note of social injustices in her community at a young age, and worked throughout her life in support of rights for workers, women, and minorities. She became active in organizing unions and strike actions to fight for better wages and working conditions, amongst other things. For her actions, the government of Quebec accused her of sedition and she was jailed for six months before being acquitted.

While she began at the local level, eventually Madeleine and her husband Kent Rowley founded the Council of Canadian Unions that later became the Confederation of Canadian Unions. Even after she retired from union work in 1983, she shifted her efforts to become a founding member of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women.

5. 'Happily', she championed higher education for women in addition to advocating a francophone women's organization that championed education, equity under the law, and a woman's right to vote.

Answer: Marie Lacoste G�rin-Lajoie

Marie Lacoste G�rin-Lajoie (1867-1945) was a woman who had conviction. Even when she married, she did so on the condition that she maintain the freedom to continue her campaign for women's rights. Her tireless efforts helped institute Quebec's first francophone college for women in 1908, and she staunchly supported the suffragette movement in the province. She taught herself about the law as it affected women (her parents were both lawyers, and she used their books), and fought for the rights of women in marriage, where (at the time) they had no control over their own finances, nor had any legal input into the financial affairs of the family. In 1929, Marie testified before the Dorion Commission on women's rights, which resulted in changes to the Quebec Civil Code in 1931, providing women the right to manage their own wages.

Another significant accomplishment was the founding of the F�d�ration nationale Saint-Jean-Baptiste with Caroline Dessaulles-B�ique. This organization, which she led for 20 years, campaigned for social and political rights for women, while also educating women on their rights through a newsletter. Marie Lacoste G�rin-Lajoie was named a 'Person of National Historic Significance' in 1998.

6. She was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons, acting as the Member of Parliament from the Ontario riding of Grey Southeast in 1921. 'Fail', she did not, holding office until 1935.

Answer: Agnes Macphail

Agnes Macphail (1890-1954) chose the realm of politics to make her mark on the world and to be a voice for those who needed it. After legislation in 1919 made it possible for women to run for federal office, Agnes became the first woman to be elected, and she went on to win three more times, for a run as a Member of Parliament that lasted 19 years (1921-40). And after that she moved over to the Ontario Legislature, serving two terms (1943-45 and 1948-51).

Over her career she championed such causes as penal reform, rural issues, and concern for women in the criminal justice system. With the latter, she formed the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada in 1939. Agnes is quoted as saying, "Most women think politics aren't lady-like. Well, I'm no lady. I'm a human being." She was named a 'Person of National Historic Significance' in 1985.

7. You can't 'cover up' what this woman accomplished. She championed education reform for women and helped found the Women's Institute, the National Council of Women, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and the national YWCA.

Answer: Adelaide Hoodless

Adelaide Hoodless (1858-1910) did not enter public life until she met with tragedy in her life, through the death of her son in 1888 at the age of 14 months. Rooted in that occurrence, her passion became the education of women in the domestic sciences. She is quoted as saying, "Is it of greater importance that a farmer should know more about the scientific care of his sheep and cattle, than a farmer's wife should know how to care for her family?"

Her achievements paved the way for the rise of new era of activism for women in the early 20th century. Adelaide was named a 'Person of National Historic Significance' in 1960, and her visage graced a postage stamp issued in 1993.

8. She 'held on' to her beliefs as a suffragist and was instrumental in Manitoba becoming the first province to grant women the vote in 1916. As one of the Famous Five, she saw to it that women were recognized as Persons (as defined in the British North America Act).

Answer: Nellie McClung

Nellie McClung (1873-1951) felt strongly that women should be included in politics, fighting for a woman's right to vote and to run for office. She was able to turn her successes in these areas to take office herself, serving with both the Manitoba and Alberta Legislatures during her career.

After winning the battle at the provincial level, Nellie joined forces with Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Emily Murphy and Louise McKinney (The Famous Five / Valiant Five) in 1927 to petition for women to be able to run for Federal office, as well. And, of course, they succeeded. Nellie was named a 'Person of National Historic Significance' in 1954.

9. She entered the 'field' of politics after leading the women's suffrage movement in Quebec, going on to become the first woman to lead a political party in 1951.

Answer: Th�r�se Casgrain

Th�r�se Casgrain (1896-1981) led the suffragette movement in a difficult province. In 1921 she founded the Provincial Franchise Committee, campaigning for women's rights and for the right to vote in Quebec elections, but it would take nearly 20 years to win that fight. Where Manitoba was the first to grant woman the vote in 1916, Quebec would not do the same until 1940.

While Th�r�se would never win her own seat, she did take on leadership of the Parti social d�mocratique du Qu�bec, which was the Quebec wing of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). She held that position from 1951 until 1957. In 1970, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau appointed Th�r�se to the Senate, where she sat as an Independent.

10. You could say this woman had 'drive'! After studying art in San Francisco, London and Paris, she returned to British Columbia and immortalized the West Coast rainforests and the villages and artifacts of indigenous peoples in the new modernist style.

Answer: Emily Carr

Emily Carr (1871-1945) was a painter and author who became one of the most significant Canadian artists in the country's history. But it was not an easy journey to reach such significance. Her work was not widely recognized after her education, and for a period of 15 years, she basically stopped pursuing her art, and instead ran a boarding house known as the 'House of All Sorts'. Interest in her art grew, however, and in 1927 many of her works were featured in an exhibit at the National Art Gallery, and after that she turned again to her art.

The Canadian Encyclopedia refers to Emily Carr as a Canadian Icon who was an artist of stunning originality and strength. Emily was named a 'Person of National Historic Significance' in 1950. In 2013, her painting 'The Crazy Stair (The Crooked Staircase)' sold for $3.39 million at a Toronto art auction.

Source: Author reedy

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Powerful Canadian Women Trivia Quiz

I've limited the field of amazing, inspirational and powerful Canadian women to this tiny list of ten. How many do you know?

Questions		Choices
1. In Nova Scotia in 1946, this woman of colour refused to leave a whites only section of a movie theatre and was jailed for it. She did not 'bow' to the pressure, and her actions led to the end of segregation in the province.		Madeleine Parent
2. Became the first female Alderman in the British Empire when elected to the Calgary City Council in 1917. You could say she 'blew' away the competition.		Hannah (Annie) Gale
3. She spent two decades lobbying against the law that disallowed First Nations women to retain their Status when marrying a non-Aboriginal. Eventually, she 'cut' through the government red tape, successfully having the law repealed in 1985.		Agnes Macphail
4. If she'd 'had children', they would have been proud of this union organizer and social activist who spent a lifetime fighting for the working class, women, and minorities in Quebec. And she was a founding member of the National Action Committee on The Status of Women in 1972.		Nellie McClung
5. 'Happily', she championed higher education for women in addition to advocating a francophone women's organization that championed education, equity under the law, and a woman's right to vote.		Adelaide Hoodless
6. She was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons, acting as the Member of Parliament from the Ontario riding of Grey Southeast in 1921. 'Fail', she did not, holding office until 1935.		Viola Desmond
7. You can't 'cover up' what this woman accomplished. She championed education reform for women and helped found the Women's Institute, the National Council of Women, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and the national YWCA.		Emily Carr
8. She 'held on' to her beliefs as a suffragist and was instrumental in Manitoba becoming the first province to grant women the vote in 1916. As one of the Famous Five, she saw to it that women were recognized as Persons (as defined in the British North America Act).		Marie Lacoste G�rin-Lajoie
9. She entered the 'field' of politics after leading the women's suffrage movement in Quebec, going on to become the first woman to lead a political party in 1951.		Th�r�se Casgrain
10. You could say this woman had 'drive'! After studying art in San Francisco, London and Paris, she returned to British Columbia and immortalized the West Coast rainforests and the villages and artifacts of indigenous peoples in the new modernist style.		Mary Two-Axe Earley