Politics & Law | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Maisie Hurley

    Maisie Hurley, née Maisie Amy Campbell-Johnston, Vancouver-area political activist, Indigenous ally (see Indigenous Peoples in Canada), newspaper founder and art collector (born 27 November 1887 in Swansea, Wales; died 3 October 1964 in North Vancouver, British Columbia). Although Hurley had no formal legal training or law degree (see Legal Education), she worked on several legal cases and advocated for Indigenous peoples’ basic human rights as well as for changes to the Indian Act. In 1946, Hurley started a newspaper called The Native Voice that aimed to bring attention to important issues concerning Indigenous communities across Canada (see Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada). In 2011, Hurley’s collection of Indigenous art was displayed at the North Vancouver Museum. 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Untitled-11.jpg Maisie Hurley

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    Malcolm Rowe

    Malcolm Rowe, lawyer, public servant, university lecturer, Supreme Court justice (born 1953 in St. John’s, NL). Malcolm Rowe is an expert in international law. After working in the public service in Ottawa and in Newfoundland and Labrador, Rowe served as a justice with the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court’s trial division and then with its Court of Appeal. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on 28 October 2016. He is the first Supreme Court justice from Newfoundland and Labrador.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/malcolm-rowe-rr-hr.jpg Malcolm Rowe

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    Margaret Trudeau

    Margaret Joan (née Sinclair) Trudeau (Kemper), author, actor, photographer, mental health advocate (born 10 September 1948 in North Vancouver, BC). Margaret Trudeau’s marriage to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1971 made her a public figure overnight. The dissolution of their union occurred under withering public scrutiny at a time when traditional roles, for homemakers and political wives alike, were being challenged. As the wife of one prime minister and the mother of another — Justin Trudeau — Margaret Trudeau carved out a public role for herself after revealing her diagnosis with bipolar disorder. In two books and in well-received public speeches, she has been an outspoken advocate for people with mental health issues.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MargaretTrudeau/Margaret_Trudeau_bandana.jpg Margaret Trudeau

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    Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier

    Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier, CM, chief (born 15 April 1954 in Regina, SK). Day Walker-Pelletier is the longest-serving elected chief in Canadian history. She was chief of Okanese First Nation, located near Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, from 1981 to 2020. During her long career, Day Walker-Pelletier accomplished many goals, including establishing the structure, instruments and policies of governance for Okanese First Nation. She also took part in numerous projects related to wellness, social reform and education, focusing primarily on providing support to vulnerable women and children. Day Walker-Pelletier has been a strong advocate for preserving the language, traditions, and treaty rights of Okanese First Nation.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/MarieAnneDayWalkerPelletier/CanadaPostDayWalkerPelletier.png Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier

  • Article

    Irene Parlby

    Mary Irene Parlby (née Marryat), Alberta MLA (1921–35), women’s rights advocate, activist (born 9 January 1868 in London, UK; died 12 July 1965 in Red Deer, AB). Irene Parlby served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Alberta for 14 years. She was the first woman in Alberta, and the second in the British Empire, to be appointed to a cabinet position. One of the Famous Five appellants in the Persons Case, Parlby was a compelling advocate for women’s rights. Known as the “Women’s Minister,” her career in activism and legislation was dedicated to improving the lives of rural women and children, such as with Alberta’s Dower Act in 1917. She was also a delegate to the League of Nations in 1930. However, she has also been criticized for her views on eugenics and for her support of Alberta’s Sexual Sterilization Act. She was named a Person of National Historic Significance in 1966 and an honorary senator in 2009.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/03fc05ba-3419-4203-909e-34b38f6b5376.jpg Irene Parlby

  • Article

    Mary John Batten

    Mary John Batten (née Fodchuk), lawyer, politician, justice and chief justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench (born 30 August 1921 in Sifton, MB; died 9 October 2015). Mary John Batten was the first Ukrainian Canadian woman elected to a Canadian legislature. She served as an MLA in Saskatchewan from 1956 until 1964. That year, she became the first woman to be appointed as a federal judge in Saskatchewan, and only the second in Canada. In 1983, she became Saskatchewan’s first female chief justice. She also chaired a Saskatchewan royal commission. She retired from the bench in 1989.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/DCI-images/Mary-John-Batten-final.jpg Mary John Batten

  • Article

    Mary Simon

    Mary Jeannie May Simon (Ningiukudluk); diplomat, civil servant, (born 21 August 1947 in Kangirsualujjuaq, Nunavik, QC). Simon is an advocate for international cooperation in the Arctic and Indigenous education and rights. She has held multiple roles in the civil service, including secretary and co-director of policy of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, secretary to the board of directors of the Northern Quebec Inuit Association, and member of the Nunavut Implementation Commission. She was also the first vice president of the Makivik Corporation and the first Inuk in Canada to hold the rank of ambassador. Simon has served as the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and of what is now the Inuit Circumpolar Council. On 26 July 2021, Simon became Canada’s 30th Governor General and the first Indigenous person to serve in that role.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/MarySimon.jpg Mary Simon

  • Article

    Vincent Massey

    Charles Vincent Massey, PC, CC, governor general 1952-59, historian, business executive, politician, diplomat, royal commissioner, patron of the arts (born 20 February 1887 in Toronto; died 30 December 1967 in London, England). Massey was the country’s first Canadian-born governor general. He helped create the Order of Canada in 1967, and as a champion of the arts in Canada laid the groundwork for the Canada Council, the National Library of Canada and the National Arts Centre.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/192ab9c4-8241-4b0d-bb1c-d675696b89f7.jpg Vincent Massey

  • Article

    Massey Commission

    The Massey Commission was formally known as the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences. It was officially appointed by Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent on 8 April 1949. Its purpose was to investigate the state of arts and culture in Canada. Vincent Massey chaired the Commission. It issued its landmark report, the Massey Report, on 1 June 1951. The report advocated for the federal funding of a wide range of cultural activities. It also made a series of recommendations that resulted in the founding of the National Library of Canada (now Library and Archives Canada), the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts, federal aid for universities, and the conservation of Canada’s historic places, among other initiatives. The recommendations that were made by the Massey Report, and enacted by the federal government, are generally seen as the first major steps to nurture, preserve and promote Canadian culture.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/6dc56c29-5a10-4fff-ad08-000dc347c1e4.jpg Massey Commission

  • Article

    Masumi Mitsui

    Masumi Mitsui, MM, farmer, soldier, Canadian Legion official (born 7 October 1887 in Tokyo, Japan; died 22 April 1987 in Hamilton, ON). Masumi Mitsui immigrated to Canada in 1908 and served with distinction in the First World War. In 1931, he and his comrades persuaded the BC government to grant Japanese Canadian veterans the right to vote, a breakthrough for Japanese and other disenfranchised Canadians. Nevertheless, Matsui and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were displaced, detained and dispossessed by the federal government during the Second World War (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MasumiMitsui/2010-23-2-4-551.jpg Masumi Mitsui

  • Article

    Maxime Bernier

    Maxime Bernier, businessman, lawyer, politician, leader of the People’s Party of Canada 2018–present (born 18 January 1963 in St-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec). Maxime Bernier served as Member of Parliament for Beauce from 2006 to 2019. He was a prominent Cabinet minister in the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. After narrowly losing the Conservative leadership race to Andrew Scheer in 2017, Bernier left the party in 2018 and formed the far-right People’s Party of Canada (PPC). Bernier opposes government intervention in society, culture, the economy. He also criticizes multiculturalism and increased immigration as well as government policies to fight climate change.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Libertarianism/Maxime_Bernier.jpg Maxime Bernier

  • Article

    McIvor Case

    The McIvor v. Canada case was about gender discrimination in section 6 of the 1985 Indian Act, which deals with Indian status. Sharon McIvor — a woman who regained status rights after the passing of Bill C-31 in 1985 — was not able to pass on those rights to her descendants in the same way that a man with status could. In her case against the federal government, the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that section 6 did, in fact, deny McIvor’s equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In response to this case, the federal government introduced new legislation (Bill C-3) in 2011 to counter gender discrimination in the Indian Act.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/McIvorCase/McIvor.jpg McIvor Case

  • Article

    Melanie Mark

    Melanie Joy Mark (also known as Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak), politician, leader (born 17 October 1975 in Vancouver, BC). Melanie Mark is the first First Nations woman elected as a Member of British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly and the first First Nations woman to serve as a cabinet minister. Mark, the granddaughter of residential school survivors, is of Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Cree, Ojibwe, French and Scottish ancestry. Her Nisga’a name is Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak, which means “the eagle that passes on to the next generation.” As a candidate of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), Mark was elected in 2016 as the MLA for the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant riding. She subsequently won provincial elections in 2017 and 2020. Mark has been outspoken about the challenges of growing up in poverty, being raised by a single mother and about her time in the foster care system. In 2017, Mark was appointed to cabinet as the Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, and later became the Minister of Tourism, Art, Culture and Sport in 2020. She resigned as an MLA in February 2023. 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/MelanieMark/Melanie_Mark_Family_image_resized.jpg Melanie Mark

  • Article

    Member of Parliament (MP) (Plain-Language Summary)

    A member of Parliament (MP) is elected to represent a single district, or “riding,” in the House of Commons. MPs have three main duties: passing laws and crafting policies in Parliament, representing their riding and political party, and serving the people in their riding. MPs have different roles and levels of influence. They can be backbenchers, Cabinet ministers, opposition critics or the prime minister. They typically serve four-year terms. They hold office until Parliament is dissolved. They have no term limits and can be re-elected any number of times. The number of MPs changes every 10 years. There are currently 338 MPs. This article is a plain-language summary of member of Parliament (MP). If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Member of Parliament (MP).

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/P060471-362871.jpg Member of Parliament (MP) (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    Michael Luchkovich

    Michael Luchkovich, teacher, politician, author (born 13 November 1892 in Shamokin, Pennsylvania; died 21 April 1973 in Edmonton, AB). In 1926, Michael Luchkovich became the first Ukrainian Canadian to be elected to Parliament. A member of the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), he was re-elected in 1930 but defeated in 1935, when he ran as part of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). A staunch defender of minority rights in Canada, Luchkovich was an early advocate for multiculturalism. He later translated books from Ukrainian into English.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Michael_Luchkovich_-_1930_16661079827.jpg Michael Luchkovich