28 Facts About Agnes Macphail

Agnes Campbell Macphail was a Canadian politician and the first woman elected to Canada's House of Commons.

Agnes Macphail served as a Member of Parliament from 1921 to 1940; from 1943 to 1945 and again from 1948 to 1951, she served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the Toronto riding of York East.

Active throughout her life in progressive politics, Macphail worked for multiple parties, most prominently the Progressive Party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the United Farmers of Ontario.

Agnes Macphail promoted her ideas through column-writing, activist organizing, and legislation.

Agnes Macphail was born to Dougald McPhail and Henrietta Campbell in Proton Township, Grey County, Ontario.

Agnes Macphail was raised in the Methodist Church, but converted to the Reorganized Latter Day Saint church as a teenager.

Agnes Macphail attended Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute for one year.

Agnes Macphail graduated in 1910 with a second-class teacher's certificate.

Agnes Macphail applied for five positions and was accepted at all five.

Agnes Macphail later said that this was not due to her competence but to a scarcity of teachers at the time.

Agnes Macphail became a columnist for the Farmer's Sun around this time.

Agnes Macphail was the first female MP in Canadian history.

Agnes Macphail was re-elected in the 1925,1926, and 1930 federal elections.

Agnes Macphail objected to the Royal Military College of Canada in 1924 on the grounds that it taught snobbishness and provided a cheap education for the sons of the rich; in 1931 she objected to government support for the college as she opposed it on pacifist grounds.

Agnes Macphail became the first president of the Ontario CCF in 1932.

Agnes Macphail was allowed to use the party's name, even after it stopped being a political organization in 1934.

Agnes Macphail was always a strong voice for rural issues.

Agnes Macphail was a strong advocate for penal reform and her efforts contributed to the launch of the investigative Archambault Commission in 1936.

Agnes Macphail was the first Canadian woman delegate to the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, where she worked with the World Disarmament Committee.

Agnes Macphail received 4,798 votes, while Macphail placed second with 4,057 votes.

Agnes Macphail was a frequent contributor to newspapers in Grey County such as the Flesherton Advance and Markdale Standard, often acting as a correspondent or ambassador to the rest of the country.

Agnes Macphail wrote dispatches from Parliament about political news of interest to the rural communities back home, and contributed columns when she travelled and spoke to citizens in other regions.

Agnes Macphail wrote a number of pieces for The Farmer's Sun, an Ontario progressive weekly, including a number of reminiscences about rural Ontario history.

Agnes Macphail was the first woman sworn in as an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament.

Agnes Macphail was responsible for Ontario's first equal-pay legislation, passed in 1951, but was unable to continue her efforts when she was defeated in elections later that year.

At that time, Agnes Macphail was barely able to support herself through journalism, public speaking and organizing for the Ontario CCF.

Agnes Macphail died February 13,1954, aged 63, in Toronto, just before she was to have been offered an appointment to the Senate of Canada.

Agnes Macphail is buried in Priceville, Ontario, with her parents and Gertha Macphail, one of her two sisters.