COVER STORY

“A women’s place is anywhere she wants to be.”

- Agnes Campbell Macphail

The recent passing of the extraordinary stage and film actor Christopher Plummer has been deservedly well-documented. Many theatre critics have commented that we may never see his like again. The same can be said for another great Canadian, one Agnes Macphail, often referred to as the most important woman in public life that Canada produced in the 20th century. This is a particularly apt time in our history to be reminded that while Canadian women gained the right to vote in 1918, it is Grey County’s Agnes Macphail who ushered in a new era in Canadian politics in 1921. The first Canadian woman to be elected federally, she is also considered the first of two women elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1943. A teacher, journalist, orator, and lifelong champion of human rights, her successful trailblazing opened political doors for other women to follow. Agnes, a country girl from rural Grey County, entered this world on March 24, 1890, in what then was Proton Township. For her, the only woman among 11 candidates at the September 26, 1921 nomination meeting in Durham, Ontario, to emerge as the South-East Grey candidate for the United Farmers of Ontario/ Progressive Party was no small feat!

It occurs to me that such a consummate professional as Plummer would have genuinely appreciated Agnes Macphail’s natural oratory and her witticism that enthralled audiences wherever she appeared during many years as a greatlyin-demand public lecturer. Widely touted as one of the great orators of her time, her speaking engagements were regularly booked by the same theatrical agency that handled Thornton Wilder, Thomas Mann, and Winston Churchill. While Plummer and Macphail may represent different times, as public figures both during their lifetimes had to endure media-perpetuated images not to their liking. In the noted actor’s case, it proved impossible to not be largely remembered as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. For Agnes it was a lifetime of continually being identified as the staid, sharp-tongued, unmarried woman from rural Ontario — she of the practical coat and sensible shoes! The early media fuss over whether she would wear a hat when rising to speak in the House of Commons rather than giving attention to her groundbreaking role set the stage for ongoing heckling. Rightfully tired of being pictured as a spinster whom love had passed by, Macphail was to have the last laugh when she gave her papers to the National Archives, old love letters included, accompanied by instructions that they be read.

It boggles the mind to imagine what the 31-year-old Agnes Macphail was up against, not only in her earliest years in politics but also during the many challenging years that followed. Not only had voters initially scoffed at her chances, other women included, but campaigning across such a wide-spread riding was exhausting and at times perilous, particularly when travelling by horse and cutter throughout the seemingly neverending Grey County winters. But Agnes, a tireless and powerful advocate for the United Farmers of Ontario, was made of good stuff and not one to shy away from adversity. A copy, now in my possession of “My Ain Folk” the brief unpublished family history written by Agnes c. 1950, emphasizes the importance of her Scottish roots and the benefits of being raised in an independent household. “My sisters and I were taught to control our feelings, and Mother seldom sympathized with childish hurts, or the troubles of older life either.” Asked once about her courage when confronted regularly with unflattering newspaper coverage for stands she had taken in the House of Commons, the place men had long considered their own, Macphail replied, “I have no consciousness of being brave, but if I am, I get it from my Mother. She was a Campbell.” Fortunately, Agnes was also favoured with the “gift of gab,” a characteristic amply possessed by her Ceylon, Ontario, farmer/auctioneer father Dougald. The talent would stand her in good stead when confronted by hecklers at heated political rallies, and it wasn’t long before she became a draw when on the stage with competing politicians —all

men. For 15 of the 19 years she served in Ottawa, Agnes was the only woman out of 244 members. Many an opponent wished they were somewhere else when Agnes spoke. Her often scathing retorts led to an entire arsenal of Macphail quotations that continue to delight to this day — a personal favourite of mine being: “I’m no lady, I’m an MP.”

Through National Film Board documentaries and as the subject of numerous published biographies, Agnes Macphail’s exceptional life, comprised of countless accomplishments, is readily available to the public and warrants our attention in this the100th year since her election. If ever there was a time for true Canadian heroes it is now and there is no need to look further afield as our very own Agnes is “the real deal.” During the course of 2021 it is hoped that media and educators will be reintroducing Agnes to an entirely new generation just as Kamala Harris is being lauded for her recent “first” in the United States. One obvious resource is Curator Robert Iantorno of the South Grey Museum, along with several books for the Y/A readers written by Donna Mann and locally published by the Brucedale Press. The contributions to the betterment of Canadian society by Agnes Campbell

Designer/Artist Holger Majorahn, 2021 Macphail should not be relegated to forgotten past history. Her championing tirelessly for equal pay for equal work, striving for prison reform, co-founding of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada (which is still in existence today) along with her setting the stage for the introduction of old age pensions are but some of the notable accomplishments of the amazing “Lady from Grey.” So put on your Agnes T-shirt, grab your Agnes tote bag, and join with the Friends of the South Grey Museum as we celebrate our Agnes in this very special year, virtually and otherwise. And when conditions permit, get a breath of fresh air and enjoy the Macphail Commemorative Quilt, soon-to-be installed on the South Grey Museum exterior wall, the work of talented Flesherton-based artist/designer, Holger Majorahn of Arts on Ten, and made possible with support from the Municipality of Grey Highlands.

In “My Ain Folk,” Agnes Macphail wrote about the close kinship she enjoyed with her father and the qualities she had inherited from both parents. It seems a fitting conclusion to this cover story to end with her own statement: “Perhaps if I owed him the ability to get into Parliament I owed her the ability to stand it when I got there.”