Louise McKinney
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Louise McKinney (; 22 September 186810 July 1931) was a Canadian politician, temperance advocate, and women's rights activist. She was the first woman elected into the
Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...
and the first woman to serve in a legislature in the
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. She served in the Alberta legislature from 1917 to 1921 as a member of the Non-Partisan League. Later she was one of the Famous Five who campaigned successfully for the right of Canadian women to be appointed to the Senate. A former schoolteacher and temperance organizer, she came to Alberta in 1903 as a homesteader. McKinney was heavily involved in the Methodist Church and the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...
, and she served as president of the Alberta branch for 22 years, from 1908 to 1930. In 1930, she was elected president of the Dominion WCTU, and organized the 1931 World Convention in Toronto. McKinney supported stricter immigration laws and the creation of institutions for "
feeble-minded The term feeble-minded was used from the late 19th century in Europe, the United States, and Australasia for disorders later referred to as illnesses, deficiencies of the mind, and disabilities. At the time, ''mental deficiency'' encompassed a ...
" people. In 2009, the
Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...
voted to make McKinney and other members of the Famous Five Canada's first honorary Senators.


Early life

McKinney was born Louise Crummy on 22 September 1868 in Frankville, Ontario, the sixth of ten children of Richard Crummy and Esther Empey. Her father had emigrated from Ireland to settle in
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
in 1842, later bringing his wife in 1857. McKinney graduated from Athens High School intending to become a physician but faced difficulty entering medical school due to her gender. Instead, she attended Ottawa Normal School to become a teacher. She taught for four years in Ontario before moving to
North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...
, where she taught for three more years.


Involvement in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union

While teaching in North Dakota, McKinney became interested in the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...
. In 1894 she became one of the union's local organizers, travelling around the state to preach about the dangers of alcohol. While working in this capacity, she met James McKinney, whom she married in March 1896. They had one son, Williard, named after Frances Williard, the founder of the WCTU. She was elected as the North Dakota WCTU's District President in 1898 and represented her area at the National Convention the following year. The McKinneys continued to farm in North Dakota until 1903, when they moved to the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
(present-day Alberta) and settled near
Claresholm Claresholm is a town located within southern Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 2, approximately northwest of the City of Lethbridge and south of the City of Calgary. History The location was originally a watering stop for steam engin ...
. Within a few weeks of arriving in Alberta, McKinney set out to establish a local branch of the WCTU. The following year, she met with women from across the North-West Territories to discuss forming a larger union. The North-West Territories' WCTU was established. It was later renamed the Alberta and Saskatchewan WCTU when those provinces were formed in 1905. By 1912, the organization had so many members that it split into a separate group for each province. McKinney served as president of the Alberta WCTU for 22 years, from 1908 to 1930. For the same period, she served as vice-president of the Dominion WCTU. In 1930, she was voted president of the Dominion WCTU and organized the 1931 World Convention in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, where she was elected vice-president of the World WCTU.


Political career

McKinney ran for a seat in the Alberta Legislature for the electoral district of Claresholm in the 1917 general election, the first election in which women were allowed to vote. She defeated Liberal incumbent William Moffat as a candidate for the Non-Partisan League. In winning the election, she became the first woman elected to a legislature in the British Empire. Much of her term in office was focused on working towards more effective prohibition, and she gained a reputation as a capable debater. Together with Henrietta Muir Edwards, she drafted and introduced a motion which ensured widows would receive a portion of their husbands' estate. After passing, it became known as the Dower Act. Several of her fellow Famous Five members, including Parlby, Murphy, and McClung, were supporters of the eugenics movement in Alberta. It is not known if McKinney supported mandatory sterilization of "mental defectives." She advocated the creation of institutions to care for
feeble-minded The term feeble-minded was used from the late 19th century in Europe, the United States, and Australasia for disorders later referred to as illnesses, deficiencies of the mind, and disabilities. At the time, ''mental deficiency'' encompassed a ...
people and to prevent their procreation. McKinney promoted stricter immigration laws. She ran for a second term in the
1921 Alberta general election The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. The Liberal government is replaced by the United Farmers of Alberta. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed gov ...
as a United Farmers candidate. She was defeated by independent candidate Thomas Milnes by a margin of 46 votes. She never ran for political office again. She remained active in the social and political sphere, especially with the WCTU. She was one of four women, and the only woman from
Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...
, who signed the Basis of Union for the
United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...
in 1925.


Persons Case

McKinney was one of the Famous Five, along with Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Emily Murphy and
Nellie McClung Nellie Letitia McClung (; 20 October 18731 September 1951) was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists. She began her career in writing with the 1908 book ''Sowing Seed ...
, a group of five women who fought for the right to be considered "persons" and be eligible to serve in the Senate of Canada. The case is officially titled '' Edwards v Canada (AG)'' but is popularly known as the Persons Case. In 1927, the case was taken to the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
, which ruled that women were not eligible to serve in the Senate. In 1929, the Five appealed the ruling at the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...
, Canada's highest court at the time. The Judicial Committee overturned the Supreme Court's decision, and the first woman, Cairine Wilson, was appointed to the Senate the following year.


Death and honours

McKinney fell ill during the WCTU World Convention in June 1931, and her sickness became worse after her return to Claresholm. She died after returning home the following month, less than two years after her victory in the Persons Case. Her death came as a shock to the WCTU, and tributes came from across the country and the world. In 1939, the government of Canada recognized McKinney as a Person of National Historic Significance. A plaque commemorating this is on display at the post office in Claresholm. In 1997, the Persons Case was recognized as a National Historic Event. In 2000, two identical monuments were created in
Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...
, and near the Senate of Canada Building, in
Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
. The monuments, called ''Women are Persons!'', depict the members of the Famous Five reading the news about their victory in the Persons Case. The monuments were later featured on the $50 banknote of the Canadian Journey series. In October 2009, the Senate voted to name McKinney and the rest of the Famous Five Canada's first "honorary senators".


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External links


Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Louise 1868 births 1931 deaths 20th-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Canadian women's rights activists Independent Alberta MLAs Members of the United Church of Canada Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Presidents of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union Women MLAs in Alberta