Laura Sabia, (September 18, 1916 – October 17, 1996) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

social activist and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. Born Laura Villela in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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, the daughter of Italian immigrants, she played an important part, in the National Chair of the Committee for the Equality of Women, in the creation of the

Royal Commission on the Status of Women The Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a Canadian Royal Commission that examined the status of women and recommended steps that might be taken by the federal government to ensure equal opportunities with men and women in all aspects of ...

called by Prime Minister

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

in February 1967. Sabia received her education at Villa-Marie Convent and McGill University. While in Montreal, Laura was noted as the first female to be a part of St. Catharines Separate School Board in 1953, additionally being the president of multiple disciplines including YMCA and the Community Lecture Series. She was a founding member and, from 1969 to 1973, the first president, of the

National Action Committee on the Status of Women The National Action Committee on the Status of Women was a Canadian feminist activist organization that existed from 1971 to 2007. History It was founded in 1971 as a pressure group to lobby for the implementation of the 167 recommendations m ...

. She was an alderwoman for St. Catharines City Council and wrote columns for '' The Toronto Sun'' in the 1970s and 80s. She also held the president position at the Canadian Federation of University Women and used her position to reach and inspire woman into pursuing higher education politics. Sabia's contribution continued onto 1975 when she and 10 other women participated in a project for International Women at the United Nations Conference. Sabia was a two-time candidate for the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...

. In the 1968 general election, she finished second in the riding of

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Ontario, losing by fewer than 4,000 votes, and came in third in a 1981

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in the Toronto riding of Spadina, losing by 1,005 votes. In 1974, she was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

"for her devoted service to the cause of the status of women". In 1983, she was awarded the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the

Persons Case ''Edwards v Canada (AG)'', also known as the ''Persons Case'' (), is a Canadian constitutional case that decided in 1929 that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada. The legal case was put forward by the Government of Canada on the ...

. She was married to Michael Sabia and had four children, including Michael John, former head of

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, who is married to Hilary Pearson, the granddaughter of former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

. She died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

on October 17, 1996, in Toronto, Ontario.

References

* * *Sabia, L. (1966, April).Canadians- Awake! ''Women Speaking''. p. 6 *(1965, October 23). ‘Greatest Discrimination’ Levelled At Universities. ''Women''. *(1966, October 6) Never under-estimate the power of a Mrs. M. J. Sabia. ''Toronto Daily Star.'' *(1967, November 27). Feminist asks men for rights, less love. ''Globe and Mail.'' *(1974, February 19). Woman-power thrust of Sabia’s sorties. ''Kitchener-Waterloo Record'', p. 43. *(1974, December 11). Laura Sabia. ''The St.Catharines Standard''.

External links

CBC.ca March 28, 1967 Television broadcast: Canadian feminists fight for change
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabia, Laura 1916 births 1996 deaths Canadian columnists Canadian feminists Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Canada Neurological disease deaths in Ontario Canadian people of Italian descent Officers of the Order of Canada Ontario candidates for Member of Parliament Journalists from Montreal Politicians from Montreal Canadian women journalists St. Catharines city councillors Canadian women columnists 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers Progressive Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 1968 Canadian federal election Writers from Montreal Women municipal councillors in Ontario 20th-century Canadian women politicians Canadian women non-fiction writers Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners Toronto Sun people