The Power of a Pronoun

The use of pronouns has become commonplace today as a way to make our society more inclusive. One regularly sees pronouns used in bios, email signatures and the like. For some, it is to clearly communicate their gender as a part of their identity, and for others, it may be to create a welcoming environment for others whose genders may not be clear. 

Yet while this is a relatively recent phenomenon, the power of pronouns dates back to the first days of Canada when it was used to the opposite effect.

The British North America Act from 1867 set the rules and responsibilities for provinces and the federal government in the newly formed “Union of Canada”. Within this formative text, it refers to “Persons” as the plural and “He” as the singular. As an example, in describing those who could be members of the Privy Council:

There shall be a Council to aid and advise in the Government of Canada, to be styled the Queen's Privy Council for Canada; and the Persons who are to be Members of that Council shall be from Time to Time chosen and summoned by the Governor General and sworn in as Privy Councillors, and Members thereof may be from Time to Time removed by the Governor General.  

(Source: Government of Canada)

And later, in Article 23, explicitly stating qualifications for the Supreme Court:

• (1.) He shall be of the full Age of Thirty Years:

The use of the pronoun “He” in the BNA Act was cited as a justification to deny women the ability to serve on the Supreme Court or Privy Council - to fully participate in governing. In this case, the pronoun served to exclude.

Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Henrietta Muir Edwards came together to challenge this act of discrimination. They lost in our own Supreme Court in 1927 when the court upheld the interpretation of the BNA Act. But their appeal to the British Privy Council, the highest court of appeal at the time for Canada, was granted on October 18, 1929.

This is the origin of Persons Day.

None of this information may be new to you but I hope it’s cause for reflection on the interesting contrast between today’s use of pronouns to improve inclusivity, and the attempt more than a century and a half ago to use a pronoun to exclude.

I enjoyed weaving into my story, No Secrets Among Sisters, some of the true events and protest organized by Nelly McClung in her efforts to secure the vote for women. My novel doesn’t take the reader to the Supreme Court case and the work of the Famous Five. Perhaps it will find it’s way into a future novel…..?