To begin with, a significant development in Canadian history that shows how the evolution of women's political equality contributed to the evolution of the role of women is the case of deliberate person in the late 1920s. The person's case was a constitutional ruling that established women's right to be appointed to the Senate. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The origin of the person's case can be traced back to 1916, when Emily Murphy was served as a "person" on her first day as a magistrate. Murphy had been appointed as a magistrate at a newly opened women's court in Edmonton, Alberta, when a lawyer objected to Murphy's case to judge given that she was a woman and women were not considered "persons" under the British North America Act (BNA Act). The BNA Act of 1867, which is now known as the Constitution Act of 1867, was the law that created and governed the Dominion of Canada. According to the BNA Act, only "qualified persons" could be appointed to the Senate. However, the BNA Act did not specify whether or not “persons” included women. In 1867 the term “person” was legally understood to refer only to men. As a result, the Canadian government had since interpreted the term “persons” in the BNA Act as including only men. Emily Murphy and four other prominent activists formed an alliance called the Famous Five and decided to challenge the BNA Act. The Famous Five met on August 27, 1927 and signed a letter that was sent to the governor general. Subsequently, the case was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that women were not “persons” under the British North America Act and were therefore ineligible for appointment to the Senate. The Alberta Five were discouraged but did not give up and took the case to the Privy Council of England which was the final court of appeal. On 18 October 1929, the Privy Council of England overturned the Supreme Court's decision and ruled that women were now considered "persons" under the law. Lord Sankey, who gave the ruling on behalf of the Privy Council, further observed that “the exclusion of women from all public office is a relic of times more barbarous than ours […] and to those who wonder why the word [ people] should include women, the obvious answer is because it shouldn't.” Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To summarize, the Persons case is a historic development in Canadian history that showcases women's struggle for political equality in Canada. The legal recognition of women as "people" meant that women could no longer be denied rights based on a restrictive interpretation of the law and could now work for change in both the House of Commons and the Upper House..