Prince Edward Island's Famous Five.

• Date: 22 September 2022
• Author: McQuaid, Sean
• Published date: 22 September 2022
• Author: McQuaid, Sean

Most historically conscious Canadians are familiar with the original Famous Five, the five Alberta women whose 1927-1929 Supreme Court of Canada petition (the Persons Case) finally established women as persons in the eyes of the law. The victorious quintet--activists Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney, Emily Murphy and Irene Parlby--became icons as champions of women's rights. But fewer Canadians know about Prince Edward Island's local version of the Famous Five from 1993, when women occupied five key executive and parliamentary positions in PEI's provincial administration--the first such landmark representation in any Canadian political jurisdiction.

The Callbeck Comeback

With or without the rest of the latter-day Famous Five, 1993 would have marked a historic breakthrough for Catherine Callbeck. A Prince Edward Island political veteran who had served as a 1970s provincial ML A and Cabinet minister, Callbeck had left PEI politics to concentrate on her family's business (Callbecks Ltd.) in 1978. Returning to elected politics a decade later as a...