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Agnes Macphail Facts & Worksheets

Agnes Campbell Macphail was a politician and reformist who made history for Canada by being the first woman elected to the country's House of Commons and was one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature.

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Agnes Campbell Macphail was a politician and reformist who made history for Canada by being the first woman elected to the country’s House of Commons and was one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature. She was a famous pacifist and an advocate for prison reform.

See the fact file below for more information on the Agnes Macphail or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Agnes Macphail worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND CAREER

  • Agnes Campbell Macphail was born in Proton Township, Grey County, Ontario on March 24, 1890.
  • She was the daughter of Dougald McPhail and Henrietta Campbell, a farming family of Scottish descent.
  • She preferred helping her father tend the livestock over doing housework.
  • Being from a not-so-wealthy family, it took two years for her to finally convince her family to let her go to high school.
  • In 1906, Macphail left her home and attended Owen Sound Collegiate School for one year.
  • She later transferred to Normal School for teachers in Stratford, Ontario (1908–10).
  • After graduation, she applied for five positions and was accepted at all five due to a scarcity of teachers at that time. She taught in several schools in Ontario and in Alberta.

FARMING POLITICS

  • Her last teaching post was located at Pegg’s School near Sharon, Ontario. While working in Sharon, Macphail became active politically, entering the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) and its women’s organization, the United Farm Women of Ontario.

POLITICAL CAREER

  • In 1921, Macphail was the only woman elected to Parliament, the first federal election in which women had the freedom to vote.
  • She became the first woman Member of Parliament (MP) in Canada and was re-elected in the 1925, 1926, and 1930 federal elections.
  • She also became the first female Canadian to represent her country at the League of Nations where she was on a disarmament committee.
  • Macphail became part of the Progressive Party and was involved in the socialist Ginger Group.
  • The Ginger Group (which later changed its name to the New Democratic Party) was a faction of the Progressive Party that later formed Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) of which she was a founding member.
  • Macphail was the first president of the Ontario CCF in 1932 but left it and joined the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) in 1934.
  • Macphail became always a powerful voice concerning rural issues.
  • She was additionally a strong advocate for penal reform and her efforts contributed to the launch of the investigative Archambault Commission in 1936. The final report became the basis for reform in Canadian penitentiaries after World War II.
  • Her concern for women in the criminal justice system led her to found (in 1939) the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada, a group named after British reformer Elizabeth Fry that works on issues affecting women, girls, and gender diverse people in the justice system.
  • Other causes she initiated included pursuing prison reform, advocating for equal pay, and improving the standard of education.
  • During the years 1936 to 1938 Macphail was involved in building a royal commission into prison conditions which lead to some important reforms.

LATER YEARS

  • In 1939, Macphail entered the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
  • In the 1940 elections, after 19 years of being a member of parliament, Macphail was defeated.
  • After losing her sat in 1940, she moved to Toronto where she ran a boarding house. Even so, she was involved in the Canadian Civil Liberties Union and the Canadian Association for Adult Education.
  • Agnes Macphail ran for the seat of York East and was elected to the legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1943, making her the first woman to sit in the provincial assembly.
  • In 1945, she lost her seat and was re-elected in 1948.
  • In 1951 one of her initiatives in the Ontario legislature, equal pay for equal work for women, was passed.
  • She also participated in the setting up of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto.

JOURNALISM

  • Macphail was a frequent contributor to many newspapers. Some of these newspapers were the Flesherton Advance and Markdale Standard both based in Grey County, the Globe and Mail newspaper and Newmarket Era that are both in Ontario.
  • Her writings were usually concerning agriculture and politics.

PERSONAL LIFE AND LEGACY

  • Macphail was keen to see more women in politics as she stressed: “Most women think politics aren’t lady-like. Well, I’m no lady. I’m a human being.”
  • She never got married.
  • She died on February 13, 1954, at the age of 63, in Toronto, just before she was to have been offered an appointment to the Senate of Canada and was buried in Priceville, Ontario.
  • In 1993, honouring the 50th anniversary of Macphail’s election to the Ontario legislature, it was decided that March 24 would be considered Agnes Macphail Day.
  • In 1994, the East York council voted to honor Agnes Macphail by establishing the Agnes Macphail Award to the citizen of East York with amazing contributions in the arena of equality rights and social justice.
  • A number of places/organizations are named after her, such as Agnes Macphail Parkette, Agnes Macphail Playground, Agnes MacPhail Youth Resource Centre, and Agnes MacPhail Food Bank.

Agnes Macphail Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Agnes Macphail across 21 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Agnes Macphail worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Agnes Campbell Macphail who was a politician and reformist who made history for Canada by being the first woman elected to the country’s House of Commons and was one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature. She was a famous pacifist and an advocate for prison reform.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Agnes Macphail Facts
  • Quick Facts
  • Biography of Agnes
  • Interesting Facts
  • Significant Dates
  • It’s Story Time!
  • Important Words
  • The First Woman MP
  • Agnes Says…
  • Woman to be Featured
  • Symbolize Agnes

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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