Agnes Campbell Macphail
Agnes Macphail was born in Grey County, Ontario, in 1890. She left the family farm to pursue an education, qualifying as a teacher in 1910. She held rural teaching posts in Ontario and Alberta and got involved in the agricultural cooperative movement. In 1921, Macphail became the first woman elected to the House of Commons, representing the riding of Grey Southeast, and then Grey-Bruce, until 1940. She eventually associated with the “Ginger Group” of MPs, who broke ranks with their Progressive Party colleagues, and, in 1932, helped found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a forerunner to the New Democratic Party. Years later, as a member of the CCF in Ontario, she represented the riding of York East in the provincial legislature. A pacifist, feminist, and advocate for prison reform, Macphail established Toronto’s chapter of the Elizabeth Fry Society and championed Ontario’s first equal pay legislation, which passed in 1951. She died in Toronto in 1954.