|
ISHBEL, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair
March 14 1857 - April 18 1939
Historical Notes on the Canadian episode of the life of ISHBEL ABERDEEN
condensed by Danielle Duval LeMyre e-mail: genealogquebec@yahoo.ca or dlemyre@yahoo.com
MONTREAL, CANADA
514-236-0422
www.geocities.com/daniellla.geo/ishbel.html
ISHBEL MARJORIBANKS, COUNTESS of ABERDEEN
Painting: "Ishbel, Countess of Aberdeen"
Painted by Wilhelm Heinrich Funk at Rideau Hall in 1898
This portrait shows Lady Aberdeen as President of the NCWC
Donated to the Crown Collection of the Official residences of Canada
through the Canadiana Fund of the National Capital Commission.
The Honourable Ishbel Maria Marjoribanks was the daughter of Dudley Coutts Majoribanks, son of Edward Majoribanks of Greenland, son of John Marjoribanks (1763-1833) who was the eldest son of Edward Marjoribanks (from Bordeaux, Edinburgh and Lees in the Borders) and Grizel Stewart. Dudley later on became Lord Tweedmouth and married Isabel Hogg whose Father, James Weir Hogg,
was a Speaker of the House of Commons. Ishbel spent a happy childhood alternating between Brook House in the fashionable West End of London and at the highland deer forest of Guisachan ("Place of the Firs") in Inverness-shire, with it's wild birds, dogs, ponies.
She had first met her future husband, John, while out riding in a London Park when she was fourteen; at eighteen, after her "coming out" at a ball presided by Queen Victoria, he became a favourite escort. She married John Campbell Gordon, seventh Earl of Aberdeen, in St. George's, Hanover Square, on November 7,1877 in a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
During her years in Canada, Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Governor General, founded:
the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) in 1893,
the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) for Canada in 1897,
the May Courts of Canada, 1898.
Forever concerned about health issues, (she once sold her own jewels in a fund-raising effort in Britain)
Lady Aberdeen founded in 1898 May Court Convalescent Home in Ottawa, here circa 1960's
showing Superintendent Miss Elizabeth Serson and a volunteer
Courtesy of the May Court Club of Ottawa
Ishbel, Countess of Aberdeen, having lived tru the potato famine,
was a vigorous advocate of social works and reform.
During her lifetime she also often took on the job of educating children.In an effort to find a solution to the great poverty in Britain, believing emigration could be a solution, she decided to visit Canada in the autumn of 1890.
She and her husband travelled by train in a private railway car. Ishbel spoke to many recently arrived working women from Britain. About this experience, she wrote "Through Canada with a Kodak".
In British Columbia they bought a fruit farm in the Okanagan region which they named Guisachan to provide an occupation for Ishbel's brother Coutts whose experiences as a South Dakota rancher had been less than successful. While they were in America, they took the opportunity of visiting another of Ishbel's younger brothers, Archie Marjoribanks, in Texas. Another of Ishbel's brothers was Edward Majoribanks, Second Baron of Tweedmouth, who in 1873 had married Lady Fanny Spencer-Churchill, daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and aunt of Winston Churchill. Lord Aberdeen was Governor General of Canada from 1893 to 1898.
John Campbell Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair;
Ishbel Maria, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair
by Bassano
Date: 8 June 1922
from www.npg.org.uk website
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp00014&rNo=6&role=sit
Years later, as wife of the Governor General, she used her position and experience to advance her causes. She was also devoted to her family and committed to the viceregal office.
Family of Governor General of Canada, John Campbell Gordon, while visiting Sir Wilfrid Laurier at his home Arthabaskaville.
Taken from "Le Monde illustré", vol. 15 no 749. p. 289 (10 septembre 1898)
from website at www4.bnquebec.ca/illustrations/htm/i11.htm
Some of her children, the youngest, were also often in Canada: George (born in 1879), Marjorie (1880), Dorothea lived only a few month in 1882, Dudley (1883) and Ian in 1884.In her parting address (below) Lady Aberdeen retells of times they cherished
"our children will be loading their boats with spoils from the water of the Pacific or the Atlantic!" and "How often shall we long for the exhilaration of a toboggan slide on a brilliant Canadian winters' day!" More about the personal life of Lady Aberdeen, by Robert Marjoribanks, Ottawa
When the Earl of Aberdeen was about to finish his term of office as Governor General of Canada, Lady Aberdeen was commended "for her efforts in the direction of elevating the women of Canada". "During their time in Canada, Lady Aberdeen was active in promoting the interests of Canadian women - ."
A special gift was arranged for them which would be known as
the
"Cabot Commemorative State Service"
Two socially prominent women, Mary Dignam, President of the WAAC, and Lady Edgar, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, arranged to meet with some members of the Senate and the House of Commons in the office of the Speaker of the House, to consider the disposal of the service. It was arranged that the State Service should be purchased, at the artists' prices, by means of a private subscription on the part of the members of the Senate and House of Commons, who presented it to Her Excellency the Countess of Aberdeen, upon her departure from Canada. Haddo House and it's treasures came under the ownership of the National Trust for Scotland
This picture includes Lord Aberdeen, John Campbell Gordon.
No more info: Link is http://northernblue.ca/births/mile08.03.b.lg.jpg
On November 27 1927, the couple celebrated their Golden Wedding. Lord Aberdeen died at Cromar of a cerebral haemorrhage on March 7, 1934, five years before his wife. Lady Aberdeen could no longer afford Cromar House and was forced to give it up. Queen Mary who, like other members of the Royal Family, had been a frequent visitor at Cromar, came to tea from Balmoral on Ishbel's last day in the house. She then moved into a house in Aberdeen acquired for her by her eldest son, George, where she lived another five years when her great heart failed.
She was buried beside her beloved companion and husband at Haddo House in 1939.
 PRESENTATION OF PARTING GIFT
The official presentation of the service took place in the House of Commons on Monday, June 12, 1898: "At 3 o'clock Earl Aberdeen drove up in a coach drawn by four black horses with outriders....Lady Aberdeen was presented with an address by Senator Allen and Mr. Frost conveying the presentation of a historical dinner service painted with Canadian scenes by the WAAC, and valued at $1000." Lady Aberdeen made an appropriate and very eloquent reply (see below) which concluded as follows: "these painted scenes will remind us of many voices from prairie, lake and river which will haunt us in our home, but there will be an undertone of deeper voices which will speak of human love and friendships and these voices will form a choir invisible and will speak to us in the truest music of Canada."
Lord Aberdeen, as Governor General of CANADA, was in Halifax, Nova Scotia on June 24, 1897, the anniversary of John Cabot's landing in Canada, to unveil a commemorative plaque for the explorer at Province House. The plaque, sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada, is still displayed there in the stairwell. An ancestor of Lord Aberdeen, Sir John Gordon of Haddo, was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1642.
* * * * * * *THE 1897 CABOT COMMEMORATIVE STATE SET of DISHES
Click here to see the 1897 Canadian Historical Dinner service from www.civilization.ca/hist/cadeau/cadin01e.html
* * * * * * *
The 1897 Cabot Commemorative State Service for Canada
by Mary Elwood
As mentionned before, the year 1897 marked the 400th anniversary of the discovery of Canada by John Cabot. To commemorate this event, the Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC) proposed to commission a State Dinner Service of hand-painted china for the Governor General's residence in Ottawa. The Service was to accommodate a state banquet for 24 people. No two pieces were to be alike; it was to be painted with Canadian subject-matter only and to be painted by Canadian women. As a project it was an early expression of nationalism in Canadian art and it was also an expression of confidence in the ability of Canadian women to carry out such a task, at a time when British and European art, especially ceramic art, was much more highly esteemed than colonial products.
The idea for a national State Dinner Service originated in the United States. In 1879, Mrs. Rutherford Hayes, wife of the President of the United States, commissioned a State Dinner Service for the White House from the Haviland firm in Limoges, France.1 In a chance conversation, Mrs. Hayes mentioned this project to an American artist, Theodore R. Davis. The artist suggested that she had a marvellous opportunity to create something entirely American by making the designs exclusively of American flora and fauna. Mrs. Hayes, delighted with this suggestion, cancelled her original choice and asked Theodore Davis to design such a service. He produced over 130 designs of American flora and fauna for the service, which was made in the Haviland factory.2 The factory then issued several duplicate sets for sale. An enterprising Montreal china merchant, Adam Darling, ordered one set, a Canadian version, with every piece marked with the Arms of the Dominion in colour. He advertised in Montreal newspapers for customers to come to see "The Famous White House Dinner Service" displayed in his shop window.3
In 1896, a State Dinner Service for Canada was proposed and a Committee of the WAAC began work on the "stupendous task" of producing a State Service of 16 dozen pieces. A competition was organized among the membership of the Association throughout Canada, to select artists of sufficient competence. Sixteen women were chosen by competition "to whom the work was apportioned according to their individual proficiency in the painting of various subjects." A Ceramics Committee was set up: "Material was then searched for by the committee in the shape of photographs, drawings and direct sketches of old forts, battlefields, old gates and other historical scenes, also reproductions of game, fish, shells, ferns and flowers of Canada. "
This pictorial assemblage was to serve as a reference collection for the artists, who were supposed to draw inspiration for their designs within the constraints of the requirements imposed: i.e. plates for the fish course were to be painted with fish found in Canadian waters, the game course to have depictions of Canadian wild ducks in their habitats, "with the food specially favoured by each species on the rim", the salad plates to be decorated with Canadian ferns, the dessert dishes with Canadian fruits and songbirds and wild flowers of Canada to decorate the cups and saucers. On the soup and meat plates "the Historic Landscapes of Canada" from coast to coast were to be represented. . 
This Soup plate representing the Old Prescott Gate, Quebec
and 11 others soup plates were painted by Clara E. Galbreaith
National Trust for Scotland, Edinburgh
79.4041.24b
For their work, china painters used commercially-produced plain white plates called "blanks" on which they painted in overglaze colours, which were subsequently fired in a kiln. The blanks for the Cabot Commemorative State Service were supplied by the English firm of Doulton. In a letter sent to the artists, the Secretary of the WAAC, E.J. Thompson wrote: "Sir Henry Doulton has taken quite an interest in our State Set and has given us the only plain china with the red factory mark that has ever left the factory to be decorated and has sent us their best china and at the lowest price."
The President of the WAAC, Mary Dignam, wrote to the artists that "the cost of the blanks would be $6.00 a dozen to each artist, less 10%.....the pieces are to be finished by May 18th (1897)".7 The fact that the Doulton Factory-mark was on the blanks was emblematic of Sir Henry Doulton's confidence in the quality of the work to be done. As well, a special red back-stamp was designed - it was a stylized rendering of John Cabot's discovery ship, the Matthew, in which he had set sail from Bristol on Tuesday, May 2, 1497. This stamp was to be printed on each piece of the service. The artists were also asked to paint a gold border on each piece. Detailed information was sent to the sixteen artists in their dispersed locations - from Ontario to Nova Scotia. Each worked in artistic and geographic isolation, so it was not until July 7, 1897, that the entire service of sixteen dozen pieces was assembled and submitted for inspection by the Ceramics Committee of the WAAC at their headquarters. The State Dinner Service was approved and then went on exhibition in Toronto in July, 1897. It was a featured display during the international British Association meetings.
* * * * * * *
WAAC LOGO
WAAC Logo on reverse of commemorative dinner service
The WAAC commissioned a special logo for the dinner service, and it is printed in red as a backstamp on almost all the dishes in the service.
It shows a stylized motif of Cabot's ship, the Matthew, surmounting a shield inscribed "Womans / Art Assn / of / Canada"; below the shield is a scroll, inscribed "1497 - 1897".
* * * * * * *
Public exhibition of the 1897 Cabot Commemorative State Service for Canada
It then went on public exhibit in Montreal and Quebec. It was received as "a most valuable and interesting work on a large scale, accomplished by the most representative talent in the Dominion ... it is hoped that it will be accepted by the government and placed where it may be seen and studied and preserved to mark the first era in ceramics in Canada."8 But the government did not wish to pay the $1000 which was the WAAC's asking price for the Cabot Commemorative State Service.
* * * * * * *
THE ARTISTS
ELIZABETH WHITNEY
Elizabeth Whitney painted individual fauna and flora canadian scenes for the dinner service consisting of 12 game plates showing Canadian birds and 12 cheese plates decorated with smaller Canadian birds.
Elizabeth Whitney lived in Montreal and taught china painting at the Montreal School of Applied Art and Design.
In 1876 her work was exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. It was also shown at WAAC exhibitions, as well as through the Art Association of Montreal (later the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) in 1893 and 1895-1898.
* * * * * * *
LILY OSMAN ADAMS
Ms Adams painted eighteen fish plates for the dinner service.
Lily Adams was born in Toronto in 1865. She studied at the University of Toronto, under Professor A.R. Coleman; the Toronto School of Art, under J.W. Beatty; Columbia University, New York, under Arthur Dow; the New York Art League, under John Carlsen; and St. John's Wood Art School in London, England. She also studied under McGillivary Knowles and L.R. O'Brien, and attended the Ontario College of Art. In later years, she studied at Woodstock in the Catskills Mountains, under Birge Harrison.
Lily Adams painted mainly landscapes, flowers and still lifes, in pastels, water-colours and oils. Her work was exhibited extensively at the Canadian National Exhibition (1907-1932); through the Ontario Society of Artists (1903-1925); and at the Royal Canadian Academy (approximately 1928-1931). During the 1930s, she also organized annual exhibitions of her paintings at her studio on Irwin Street.
Lily Adams died in Toronto in 1945. Her work is now represented in the Art Gallery of Ontario.
* * * * * * *
LOUISE COUEN
Louise/Louisa Couen painted six fish plates decorated with Canadian fishes and aquatic plants for the Cabot dinner service.
Her surname appeared as Conen, Cowen, Cohen and Cowan.
In 1894 she taught china painting and she had a studio at 251 Carlton Street in Toronto.
After 1903 there are no traces of the artist.
* * * * * * *
PHOEBE AMELIA WATSON
Ms Watson painted
twelve soup plates for the 1897 Cabot Commemorative State Service for Canada.
Phoebe Amelia Watson was born in Doon, Ontario in 1858.
Her parents were Ransford Watson and Susan Mohr (mill owners), and her brother was the artist Homer Watson (d. 1936).
In addition to painting china, she produced water-colour and oil landscapes, and portraits. Her portraits include those of six mayors of Waterloo, Ontario, as well as two portraits of Queen Victoria.
Her work was shown at WAAC exhibitions and through the Ontario Society of Artists.
She became the curator of the Homer Watson Art Gallery in Doon, a position she held until she died on October 22, 1947.
* * * * * * *
CLARA ELIZABETH GALBREAITH
Ms Galbreaith painted twelve soup showing Canadian places.
* * * * * * *
JUSTINA A. HARRISON
Ms. Harrison painted twelve salad plates with indigenous Canadian ferns
* * * * * * *
JULIET HOWSON
Ms Howson painted twelve coffee cups and saucers decorated with Canadian flowers.
Canadian born in Toronto, she moved to the United states when she married, where she exhibited under her married name, Juliet Burdoin.
* * * * * * *
MARGARET IRVINE
Ms Irvine painted twelve dinner plates depicting Canadian locations.
Margaret Irvine lived in Toronto during the 1890s.
She boarded in Toronto, making it unlikely that she was originally from the city.
She became a talented china painter, and exhibited her ceramic painting regularly at WAAC exhibitions in the 1890s.
* * * * * * *
ALICE M. JUDD
Ms Judd painted twelve dessert plates decorated with Canadian fruits.
Ms. Judd was born in Hamilton, Ontario.
Her father was William Henry Judd, a Hamilton alderman (1884-1895)
and later he became a member of the Board of Health.
Ms Judd exhibited her ceramic painting at WAAC exhibitions in the late 1890s and she won the gold medal for sculpture at the 1938 Honolulu Artist Exhibition.
She died in 1943.
* * * * * * *
ANNA LUCY KELLEY
Ms Kelley painted twelve coffee cups and saucers with flowers.
Ms. Kelley was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 1849.
Her Father was Captain Charles William Kelley and her Mother was Mrs. Deborah L. Kelley.
Ms.Kelley studied in Edinburgh, Liverpool, New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
In Yarmouth, she taught art in a studio on Main Street, for many years. Examples of her work are now in the Nova Scotia Museum and the Yarmouth County Museum.
She died in Yarmouth in 1920.
* * * * * * *
MARTHA LOGAN
Ms Logan painted twelve dinner plates showing places in Canada.
* * * * * * *
MARGARET McLUNG
Ms McClung painted twelve dessert plates decorated with Canadian fruits for the Cabot Commemorative dinner service.
Ms. McClung lived in St. Catharines, Ontario, before moving to Los Angeles in 1898. She had been awarded a bronze medal from the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, England in 1886.
She died in Vancouver on September 11, 1952.
* * * * * * *
HATTIE PROCTOR
painted 12 cheese plates.
* * * * * * *
M. ROBERTS
Ms. Roberts painted twelve salad plates with indigenous Canadian ferns
* * * * * * *
LILY OSMAN ADAMS
Ms. Adams painted 18 Fish Plates with shell fishes and aquatic plants.
* * * * * * *
ALICE MARY (EGAN) HAGEN
Ms. Hagen painted twelve game plates representing Canadian ducks for the 1897 Cabot Commemorative State Service given to Lady Aberdeen.
* * * * * * *
JANE BERTRAM
twelve coffee cups and saucers
Jane Bertram was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Bertram. She painted floral studies in water-colours, and was active for some time as a china painter through the Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC). She died around 1940.
* * * * * * *
ADDRESS OF LADY ABERDEEN UPON RECEIVING
THE 1898 COMMEMORATIVE CABOT DINNER SET: Senator Allan, Mr. Frost and Gentlemen,
If I say that I am overwhelmed by this wonderful surprise which you have prepared for me, I am but faintly expressing the truth. I wish that I could tell you all that is in my heart, but at least please let me assure you that this mark of spontaneous warm friendship is and ever will be very, very precious to me - and to my husband and my children, and may I add - to our mothers too.
As to the splendid gift itself, you could not possibly have chosen anything which we would have valued more - for this collection of works of art, beautiful in themselves, could not but have a special value to me as being the handiwork of a number of those Canadian women workers with whom I have so many cherished associations of affectionate sympathy and mutual co-operation for common aims and common work. But apart from this, the places and subjects depicted will be a constant living memory of the surroundings intimately connected with those various Canadian homes which have become so dear to us - As we look at these pictures and call on our guests to admire them at our high festivals, our thoughts will fondly travel again to the great Dominion, and will wander from East to West, fondly lingering on remembrances brought afresh to our minds by scenes from city and country life alike.
Again we shall hear the sweet notes of the Canadian robin and blue bird heralding the spring in the woods of Rideau Hall - we shall hear the whirr of the wild geese sweeping over our lovely British Columbia lakes and mountains, and again our sportsmen will be pursuing the canny brown prairie chicken across their vast domains. His Excellency will once more find himself landing a salmon on the Restigouche and our children will be loading their boats with spoils from the water of the Pacific or the Atlantic. How often shall we long for the exhilaration of a toboggan slide on a brilliant Canadian winters' day! How we shall listen for the splash of the paddle as the canoe glides up a stately river amidst sunshine and beauty! And now we shall be speeding over the myriad-hued prairies and anon we shall find ourselves in deep woods amidst the haunts of the wild flowers, whose loveliness we see delineated before us!
But after all, was it kind of you to give us such vivid pictures of scenes which have grown so closely around our hearts and from which we must be severed? I can scarcely answer that now. I will tell you better when you come and see us over there, as I hope you will from time to time, in that old country to which I trust we shall return stronger and better fitted for duties new and old, because of what we have learnt here.
Our time here has been a very rich chapter in our lives and its very richness must cause us many heart pangs as we turn over the last page.
I have spoken of the voices of forest and prairie, of river, lake and mountain, which will haunt us in our Scottish home, but there will be a deeper undertone of voices speaking of the human love, friendship, of the generous confidence and encouragement which has allowed us to come so near the heart and inner life of this country. Those voices will form the choir invisible which will make the truest music in our souls as we think of Canada - and of all that that one word means to us - and of all that we pray that it will mean more and more to the world.
Gentlemen, I wish that I could convey personally to every one of the Members of the Senate and House of Commons who have combined in this conspiracy some adequate expression of my grateful thanks - I wish there were opportunities of seeing much more of you each and all. It cannot be, but please believe that I am only saying what I feel when I say that you have strengthened and beautified my whole life by your action this day.
May I say God bless you, my friends.
(A copy of this reply is found in the
presentation book given to the Countess of Aberdeen, 1898.) (from website: www.civilization.ca/hist/cadeau/cagif04e.html )
PRESENTATION To Her Excellency The Countess of Aberdeen,
The Members of the Senate and House of Commons, whose names are mentioned below, are desirous of presenting to Your Excellency, on the eve of your departure, some memorial of their esteem and affection, in recognition of the signal devotion of Your Excellency to the promotion of all good works in Canada, and your invariable kindness to the Members of the Dominion Parliament.
The interesting Historical Dinner Service, the work of the Woman's Art Association of Canada, seems to be most suitable for such presentation, both because it is purely Canadian, and because it is the result of the effort of Canadian women, in whom Your Excellency has always shown the deepest interest.
We trust that Your Excellency will accept this gift, as a remembrance of our grateful appreciation of the unvarying kindness we have received at your hands.
With deep regret at the ending of the official and personal relations that have existed during the last five years, between Government House and ourselves, we earnestly wish long and happy days for you and yours.
SIGNED in 1898, by:
C.A.P. Pelletier
R.W. Scott; David Mills; G.W. Allan; M. Bowell;
Francis Clemow; Josiah Wood<; L.F.R. Masson; Geo. Drummond
L.J. Foget; E.J. Price; J.R. Gowan; W.J. Macdonald
L.G. Power; J. Dever; R.B. Dickey; James A. Lougheed
M. Sullivan; C.E. Cosgrain; A. Vidal; Jas. O'Brien
D. Ferguson; Jno. Carling;; J.C. Aikins; Peter McLaren
R.N. Dandurand; G.A. Cox<; D. MacInnes; D. Reesor
John Ellis; E.E. Penny; Sydney Fisher; Geo. Bertram
T.H. Macpherson; A.T. Wood; P.A. Choquette; J. Israel Tarte
J. Yeo; F.T. Frost; T.B. Flint; B. Rosamond; Rodolphe Lemieux
J.F. Guité; G.E. Casey; R. Beith; Wm Hutchison;
W.S. Calvert; Wm. Gibson; C.F. McIsaac; Andrew Semple
Thos. Mackie; Allen Haley; Chas. Angers; D.C. Fraser
J.G. Rutherford; D.D. Rogers; Jno. A. Macdonell;
F. Oliver; W.L. Richardson; N.A. Belcourt; P.V. Savard
L.N. Champagne; Joseph Featherston; R.R. Dobell; R.F. Prefontaine
H.G. Joly deLotbinier Archd. Campbell; J.D. Edgar; B.M. Britton
M.K. Cowan; James Livingston; R.W. Jameson; H.S. Harwood
Chas. Fitzpatrick; J.G. Haggart; John Costigan; N.C. Wallace
H. Cargill; G.E. Foster; Alex. McNeill; J.G. Bergeron; A.F. MacLaren
J.A. Gillies; W.F. Maclean; D. Tisdale; E.B. Osler; H.A. Powell
M.F. Quinn; W.J. Poupore; C.H. Parmalee; J.F. Lister
W.C. Edwards; F.W. Borden; Clifford Sifton; A.G. Blair;
Wm. Paterson; R.J. Cartwright; L.H. Davies; Wm. Mullock
W.S. Fielding; Aulay Morrison; B. Russell
(A copy of this address is found in the presentation book given to the Countess of Aberdeen, 1898.)
The "painted scenes" were taken from Canada to Scotland and placed in Lord Aberdeen's residence Haddo House, Aberdeenshire, in a splendid cabinet specially made for the Service (and designed in classical style to accord with the architecture of Haddo). Haddo House is now a National Trust for Scotland property.
In a 25-year review of the work of the Woman's Art Association of Canada in 1912, the State Dinner Service was referred to thus: "Two years had been spent at the work of painting the State Dinner Service, but when it was finished ceramic art had been raised to a standard unsurpassed in this continent."
The Cabot Commemorative State Service still survives complete, in the cabinet in Haddo House - a monument to Canadian artistic effort in a British Stately home. 1. Margaret Brown Klapthor, The White House Porcelain Service, 1880,
The National Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution.
2. Ibid.
3. Elizabeth Collard, Nineteenth Century Pottery and Porcelain in Canada, (Montreal, 1967), p. 192, 193.
4. Women's Art Association of Canada Annual Report, 1912, p. 1. Lady Aberdeen Collection, University of Waterloo Library, Waterloo, Ontario.
5. Ibid.
6E. J. Thompson to Alice Egan, 5 December 1896, Aberdeen Collection.
7M. E. Dignam to Alice Egan, 6 November 1896, Aberdeen Collection.
8. Toronto Saturday Globe, 4 December 1897.
9. Women's Art Association of Canada, Annual Report, p.3.
10. Halifax Morning Chronicle, 14 June 1898.
11. Women's Art Association Canada, Annual Report,p.3.
The Historical State Dinner Service is housed in a
specially-made cabinet in Haddo House Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Photograph by Studio Morgan, Aberdeen, courtesy of the Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax (N-6380)
BOOKS
LIST OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES on Lady ABERDEEN and other ABERDEEN's: Family Books
Some books written by or about, or containing references to, members of the family. Many of them will be out of print but may be available in libraries or from a dealer in second-hand or antique books.
Aberdeen, Lady Ishbel: Through Canada with a Kodak. White & Co., Edinburgh, 1893. Reprinted 1994, The University of Toronto Press.
Lady Aberdeen: Edward Marjoribanks: Lord Tweedmouth K.T. 1849-1909: Notes and Recollections. Constable and Company Ltd., London, 1909.
Ishbel, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair: The Musings of a Scottish Granny. Heath Cranton Ltd., London, 1936
Lord and Lady Aberdeen: We Twa. W. Collins & Sons & Co. Ltd., London, 1925. (Two volumes.) (Memoirs.)
Lord and Lady Aberdeen: More Cracks With We Twa. Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, 1929 (Memoirs.)
Barker, Dudley: Prominent Edwardians. Atheneum, New York, 1969. (Includes an account of Edward Marjoribanks's tenure as First Lord of the Admiralty.)
Benson, E.F.: The Kaiser and English Relations. Longmans Green, London, 1936. (Edward Marjoribanks as First Lord of the Admiralty and his correspondence with the German Kaiser.)
Drummond, James (ed.): Onward and Upward. Extracts from the magazine of the Onward and Upward Association, Founded by Lady Aberdeen for the Material, Mental and Moral Education of Women. Foreword by June Gordon (Lady Pentland.) Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, 1983.
French, Doris: Ishbel and the Empire. A Biography of Lady Aberdeen. Dundurn Press Limited, Toronto,1988.
Gilbert, Martin: Churchill, A Life. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1991. (Edward Marjoribanks dines with his nephew, Winston.)
Lord Hailsham: A Sparrow's Flight. Memoirs. Collins, London, 1990. (Includes an account of the life and death of Edward Marjoribanks, his half-brother.)
Alexander Marjoribanks of Marjoribanks: Travels in South and North America. Simpkin, Marshall and Company, London, 1853.
Alexander Marjoribanks of Marjoribanks: Travels in New Zealand and Australia. [Probably by Simpkin and company, some time prior to 1853.]
Marjoribanks, Edward: For the Defence. The Life of Sir Edward Marshall Hall K.C.. The MacMillan Company, New York, 1929
Middleton, R.M (ed.): The Journal of Lady Aberdeen. The Okanagan Valley in the Nineties. Moriss Publishing Ltd. Victoria B.C., Canada, 1986.
Massie, Robert K.: Dreadnought. Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War. Random House, New York, . (Edward Marjoribanks as First Lord of the Admiralty and his correspondence with the German Kaiser.)
The Earl of Oxford and Asquith: Memoirs and Reflections. Vol. 1, 1852-1927.Little, Brown and Company, 1928. (Reflections on Edward Marjoribanks as Gladstone's Chief Whip.)
Pentland, Marjorie: A Bonnie Fechter, the Life of Ishbel Marjoribanks, Marchioness of Aberdeen. B.T. Batsford Ltd.,London, 1952.
Saywell,J.T.: The Canadian Journal of Lady Aberdeen. Champlain Society, Toronto, 1960 .
Zuehlke, Mark: Scoundrels, Dreamers & Second Sons. British Remittance Men in the Canadian West. Whitecap Books Ltd.Vancouver/Toronto, 1994. (Includes references to Hon. Coutts Marjoribanks.)
1002-151 Slater Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1P 5H3
Toll Free Number: 1.877.319.0993
Local Number: 1.613.232.5025
Fax Number: 1.613.232.8419
Email: ncwc@ncwc.ca
URL: www.ncwc.ca
You may also contact the current President,
Catharine Laidlaw-Sly
at president@ncwc.ca
ORGANIZED SOCIETIES AFFILIATED WITH NCWC
Anglican Church of Canada
Canadian Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL)
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS)
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada
Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities (CCLOW)
Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW)
Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs
Canadian Home Economics Association (CHEA)
DES Action Canada
Federation of Junior Leagues
Federation of Medical Women
Girl Guides of Canada
Hadassah - WIZO
League of Ukrainian Women
Montreal Council of Women
Mothers are Women (MAW)
NA'AMAT Canada
National Association of Women and the Law
National Consultation of United Church Women
National Women's Liberal Commission
Planned Paretnhood Federation of Canada
Polish Alliance of Canadian Ladies Circle Group 1-7
Polish Canadian Women's Federation
The Salvation Army
Ukrainian Women's Association
Canadian Victorian Order of Nurses (VON)
YWCA
Women's Centre of Montreal (Centre des femmes de Montreal)
Women's Missionary Society, W.D. The Presbyterian Church
The FAMOUS FIVE
HENRIETTA MUIR EDWARDS (1849-1931) and LADY ABERDEEN
Henrietta Muir Edwards was born in 1849 to a privileged Montreal family. She was an evangelical Christian who believed in practicing what was preached. After " finishing" school and the obligatory tour of Europe, she talked her father into buying a big house in downtown Montreal where she established the Working Girls Association where single girls could get rooms, job training and legal advice. (This establishment was a forerunner to the Y.W.C.A.) Marriage to Dr. Oliver Edwards didn’t change her work. It just made it harder because Dr. Edwards moved frequently, even to the Northwest Territories where he was the doctor for Indian Reservations. Henrietta wrote her fellow activists, studied Canadian Law, and looked after her three children. NCWC & VON
In 1890 back in Ottawa, she joined forces with Lady Aberdeen. She helped Lady Aberdeen establish the National Council of Women in 1893, and became First Convenor of the Standing Committee on Laws. In 1897, again aided by Lady Aberdeen, she formed the Victorian Order of Nurses to serve the health needs in frontier areas. Lady Aberdeen had the prominence and the contacts, but it was Henrietta who organized follow-ups and wrote the necessary by-laws and letters. She did the grinding backroom work. Wherever Henrietta went, the National Council of Women went. They needed her for her growing knowledge of law concerning women and children. In the end, judges and lawyers asked her advice.Henrietta wrote the handbook on the Legal Status of Women in Canada published by the Canadian Government in 1917. She also penned a similar publication relating to Alberta Law in the same year and a revision in 1921.In 1927, at the age of 78, she joined the other four ladies to challenge the B.N.A. Act. The case became known as Edwards vs. Attorney General because the names of The Famous 5 were listed alphabetically. Henrietta was the oldest and poorest of The Famous 5. While Emily Murphy was the driving force at the front, Henrietta did what she did best the practical research, the letter writing and the keeping of things on an even keel. She deserves her place in law books and on the "Person’s Case" which changed so many laws and narrow interpretations of law. She was part of the Famous Five, which were all women, truly pioneers, who in Alberta in the early part of the 20th century shaped the future of the lives of all Canadian women to come. Because of their efforts, on October 18, 1929, the Privy Council declared in the famous " Person’s Case of 1929" that women were persons and thus eligible to hold any appointed or elected office. Three of these women were born in Ontario, one in Montreal, and one in England. They all came from the upper-middle class, were well educated and were committed to social change and women’s suffrage. They were social activists who felt it was their responsibility to make needed changes. Unfortunately, very little of our history is taught in our schools and until now only law students have learned about
The Famous 5 (click to see their statue in Calgary, Canada)
and the Person’s Case. Yet, Maclean Magazine chose to place The Famous 5 women and the Person’s Case among the twenty-five events that shaped our country in the past century. They were:
Emily Murphy (1868-1933) a.k.a. Janey Canuck
HENRIETTA MUIR EDWARDS (1849-1931)
Irene Parlby (1868-1965)
Louise McKinney (1868-1931)
Nellie McClung (1873-1951) These women worked long and hard to better the lives of women and children. The plea for equal pay for women started in 1915. While that legal goal was reached in 1999, there remains a lot of work to do. Until 1999, the bronze plaque in the lobby of the Senate in Ottawa was the only major public recognition of The Famous 5. It was erected by the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Club in 1938. In October 1996, the F5F (Famous 5 Foundation) of Calgary undertook the task of bringing the achievements and accomplishments of The Famous 5 to the attention of Canadians through a variety of venues such as luncheons, an education guide, a national tour of The Famous 5 Exhibit, a Rising Stars Youth Program for girls, the publication of a postage stamp (issued in September 1999 as part of the millennium stamp collection), and the inclusion of women on Canadian paper currency. Also included in these goals was to create a monument to The Famous 5 by raising $1 million, commissioning the artist, determining the location of the statues, and making arrangements for their installation. F5F President, Frances Wright, sought out five prominent individual Canadian women willing to donate $200,000 each to fund The Famous 5 monument created by Edmonton artist, Barbara Paterson, and cast by Bronzart Casting Ltd. Frances and her foundation were successful in their efforts. Donations of $ 200,000 each were received from: 1. Ann McCaig and daughters Roxanne and Jane (Calgary),
2. Dr. Maria Eriksen (Calgary) and sister-in-law Ayala Manolson (Toronto),
3. Kiki Delaney (Toronto),
4. Senator Vivienne Poy, sister-in-law to Governor General Adrienne Clarkson (Ottawa),
5. Heather Reisman (Toronto). The monument of the Famous Five Women was erected in Olympic Plaza, downtown Calgary, Alberta, and was unveiled by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson
on October 18th, 1999 the 70th anniversary of the "Person’s Case." A duplicate casting was to be unveiled on Parliament Hill
in Ottawa, Ontario at noon on October 18th, 2000. 
Note: The information on the FAMOUS FIVE has been graciously provided by Marjorie McKinney of Windsor, Ontario, based on talks given by her to the Women’s University Club of Windsor and the Local Council of Women of Windsor. Mrs. McKinney is a granddaughter-in-law of Louise McKinney, one of The Famous 5.
Marjorie McKinney wishes to acknowledge and express her thanks to Nancy Millar who wrote the book entitled "The Famous 5 Emily Murphy and the Case of the Missing Persons" published by The Western Heritage Centre, P.O. Box 1477, Cochrane, Alberta T0L 0W0. ISBN 0-9685962-0-7. Mrs. McKinney used much of the information found in this book in preparing her own talks. Prepared by: Beverly A. Brush
Integrity Group Inc.
LaSalle, ON
March 29, 2000
on the website at www.ncwc.ca/famousfive.html
NCWC CREST & COAT OF ARMS
On the Woman's Movement which LADY ABERDEEN started:
The link www.ncwc.ca/pastpresidents.html is no longer valid.
About the Victorian Orde which Lady Aberdeen started, here is a photograph of some VON nurses sent to the Yukon in 1898
Left to right: Margaret Payson, Rachel Hanna, Georgina Powell and Amy Scott.
Faith Fenton of the Toronto Globe is on the right.
Courtesy of the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada, Ottawa
The NEW PRESIDENT as of 2002:
Catharine Laidlaw-Sly
List of NCWC PAST PRESIDENTS
1893 - 1899 Ishbel, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair
1899 - 1902 Lady Taylor
1902 - 1906 Mrs. Robert Thompson
1906 - 1910 Lady Edgar
1910 - 1911 Lady Taylor
1911 - 1918 Mrs. F. H. Torrington
1918 - 1922 Mrs. W. E. Sanford
1922 - 1926 Miss. C. E. Carmichael
1926 - 1931 Mrs. J. A. Wilson
1931 - 1936 Miss. M. Winnifred Kydd, C.B.E.
1936 - 1941 Mrs. G.O. Spencer
1941 - 1946 Mrs. Edgar D. Hardy, C.B.E.
1946 - 1951 Mrs. R. J. Marshall, LL.D
1951 - 1956 Mrs. Allan Turner Bone
1956 - 1959 Mrs. Rex Eaton, O.B.E., LL.D.
1959 - 1961 Mrs. G.D. Finlayson
1961 - 1964 Mrs. Beatrice Hayes
1964 - 1967 Mrs. Pearl Steen
1967 - 1970 Mrs. Eleanor Milne
1970 - 1973 Mrs. Helen Hnatyshyn, LL.D.
1973 - 1976 Mrs. Cathryne Armstrong, C.M., B.A.
1976 - 1979 Mrs. Ruth Hinkley
1979 - 1982 Mrs. Amy Williams, C.M.
1982 - 1984 Mrs. Margaret Harris
1984 - 1987 Mrs. Margaret MacGee
1987 - 1990 Mrs. Doreen Kissick
1990 - 1992 Joan De New
1992 - 1995 Ruth Brown
1995 - 1997 Win Whitfield
1997 - 2002 Elizabeth Hutchinson
2002-Present Catharine Laidlaw-Sly
Founded in 1893, the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC), one of Canada's oldest women's organizations, has played a leading role in reaching many of the milestones in Canadian social history.
NCWC is a national, non-partisan, non-profit women organization
www.ncwc.ca
HADDO HOUSE
SPECIAL EVENT: YEAR 2000 As the start of the weekend's celebration of Scottish Identity
The special ceremonies for GORDON 2000 on August 3rd, 2000 was at the site www.gordon2000.org.uk/present/specdetail.html when they gave a Garden Party at Haddo House, 6.30 pm - 9.30pm, ?0
Dress Kilts or Lounge Suits
Haddo House is the home of the Marchioness of Aberdeen June Gordon and it is the perfect setting for the Garden Party.
Lady Aberdeen will host guests who in addition to enjoying a finger buffet and drinks will be able to stroll through the beautiful gardens and house. Entertainment will be laid on including the beating of the retreat.
A choice on August 4th: Ceilidh - Events Marquee Huntly, 8pm - midnight, ?5
Dress Kilts (casual) or a touch of tartan
Dance the night away, all the popular Ceilidh dances with a caller. Stovie Supper
or still on August 4th
A Taste of Scotland Dinner at Haddo House, 7 - 11.30pm, ?5
Lady Aberdeen will host an intimate dinner in the library of Haddo House.
A sumptuous 6 course meal and drinks together with Scottish entertainment and a chance to tour Haddo House will make this an evening to remember. (Numbers limited to 100) On August 5th
Fiddlers Rally at Haddo Arts Centre, 7.30pm, ?.00
Foot stamping hand clapping evening of fiddle music
NCWC is:
The NCWC is:
voice for Canadian women
a national, non-partisan federation of voluntary organizations:
- Local Councils of Women
- Provincial Councils of Women
- National Organizations with goals similar to those of NCWC
NCWC works:
to improve conditions of life for women, families and communities
NCWC offers:
education, empowerment, community involvement
a communications network
a democratic policy development process
a strong voice to the Canadian government on issues of concern to members
international, links through
- NCWC membership in the international Council of Women
- NCWC accreditation to the Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations
NCWC invites:
national organizations with similar goals to join NCWC
local organizations and individuals women to join a local
Council of Women
Individual memberships
PREVIOUS BOARD of DIRECTORS
Front Row, Left to Right:Front Row, Left to Right:
Cheryl Steernberg, June Hughes, Shirley Brown, Cathy Laidlaw-Sly,
Elizabeth Hutchinson, Mary Lambros, Gracia Janes
Back Row, Left to Right:
Linda Newson, Pat Rustad, Carol Schweitzer
1997-2002 NCWC Board Of Directors
Elizabeth Hutchinson, President
Shirley Browne, Vice-President of Administration
Gracia Janes, Vice-President of Community Services
Cathy Laidlaw-Sly, Vice-President Citizenship & International Affairs
Lynda Newson, Vice-President of Health and Social Development
Carol Schweitzer, Vice-President Business & Professions
Cheryl Steernberg, Vice-President of Public Relations
Pat Rustad, Vice-President of Education
Mary Lambros, Treasurer
June Hughes, Recording Secretary
NCWC National Office Staff
Hannah Service, Executive Director
Cathy Tillsley, Office Administrator
Eva Andras, Bookkeeper
* * * * * * * *
January 25, 2001: Letter to The Right Honourable Prime Minister Chretien
January 25, 2001
The Right Honourable Jean Chretien, QC.,M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Dear Prime Minister Chretien:
The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) urges you to use your government’s Throne Speech on January 29th to advance an action plan that reflects your stated commitment to promote greater social justice and to address the needs of children and families across Canada.
During your speech on December 6th you remarked that “prosperity in our land is not shared by all? and that “too many children live in poverty? Your statements echoed the sentiments of thousands of Canadians who have consistently ranked child poverty as one of the top priorities for greater government action.
NCWC is one of Campaign 2000's eighty-five partners from across Canada who support your commitment to “keep spending money on children?because “it is an investment in the quality of the society of tomorrow? We feel that such investments are key in light of Campaign 2000's latest report on child poverty which shows that persistent poverty risks excluding more that 1 million children from the opportunity to succeed. Despite the continued success of our economy, 1 in 5 children remains poor.
We are encouraged by recent actions taken by your government to address child poverty and to take further steps towards the realization of a full National Children’s Agenda. In particular, we note the positive measures to increase the Canadian Child Tax Benefit, to extend Employment Insurance Benefits to new parents, and the September 2000 announcement of an agreement between the federal and provincial/territorial governments on Early Childhood Development Services.
As Canada enters the 21st century with projections for a significant net federal surplus it is time to act on your deep conviction that “government has the responsibility to promote social justice? Canada’s growing prosperity allows us to make the necessary investments to promote the well-being of children and their families.
We propose that the federal government present a five year social investment plan for Canada’s Children which includes:
? Immediate implementation of the announced increases to the Canada Child Tax Benefit. This would mean that the base benefit and supplements would increase to $2,755 effective immediately.
? A commitment to consolidate the current child benefit and its various supplements into a single base benefit and to increase this benefit within five years to $ 4,200 per child. Having a single base benefit would enable that benefit to be available to all low-income families, including families on social assistance.
? Increases to the federal investment in early childhood development services from the current $400 million in 2001 to $1 billion and increasing over a five year period to $6 billion. This investment is necessary in order to ensure that provinces are able to develop a comprehensive system of Early Childhood Development Services that includes childcare, an essential core service for children and families.
? A commitment to create a minium 20,000 new, affordable housing units.
? Lowering tuition fees for post-secondary studies across Canada through re-investment in transfers to the provinces/territories to ensure that post-secondary education is affordable to all students.
The National Council of Women of Canada is a non-sectarian, non-partisan federation of voluntary organizations of twenty Local Councils of Women in major Canadian cities, five Provincial Councils of Women and twenty-seven affiliated Nationally Organized Societies. Representing many thousands of people across Canada, for over a hundred years, the NCWC has worked to improve the condition of women and families. Because the Local and Provincial Councils are themselves federations of local women’s organizations, the network of affiliated organizations represented by NCWC is a significant cross-section of grass-roots opinion.
We look forward to a Throne Speech that re-affirms the commitment to children and social justice and to hearing more about the government’s continued steps towards a full National Children’s Agenda.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Hutchinson
President
National Council of Women of Canada
cc: The Hon. Paul Martin, Minister of Finance
The Hon. Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development
The Hon. Allan Rock, Minister of Health
The Hon. Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State Children & Youth
Joyce Ireland, NCWC Convener Child and Family
January 18, 2001: Letter to Excellency Chief Dare Bejide
January 18, 2001
Chief Dare Bejide,
High Commissioner of Nigeria,
Nigerian High Commission,
295 Metcalfe St.,
Ottawa, ON K2P 1R9
Your Excellency:
I am writing to you once again on behalf of the members of the National
Council of Women of Canada about the case of Bariya Ibrahim Magazu. We have now learned from a January 15 news report in the Globe and Mail that her
sentence has been reduced to 100 lashes and postponed indefinitely to allow for the preparation of appeals.
Our members are gratified to learn about this decision of the court and want
to thank the High Commission for its help in forwarding Canadian expressions
of concern to your government. The example set by Nigeria, as a member of
the Commonwealth and as a signator of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, is an important one.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Hutchinson,
President
National Council of Women of Canada
LETTER TO JOHN MANLY
January 18, 2001
The Hon John Manley,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade,
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Dear Mr. Manley:
I am writing on behalf of the members of the National Council of Women of
Canada to thank you for the stand which you have taken in the case of Bariya
Ibrahim Magazu, the Nigerian girl who was sentenced to 180 lashes after
she became pregnant as a result of sexual assault by several older men. As
you know, our organization has been very concerned about the fate of this
girl and the issues it raises in relation to several international conventions affecting the rights of women and children.
The Globe and Mail of January 15 has now reported that the sentence has
been reduced and postponed indefinitely to allow for the preparation of legal appeals. It is to be hoped that the postponement is a permanent one.
It seems clear that this change in the court decision is in response to pressure from the international community.
We appreciate the leadership that you have taken in this matter, which will surely help to set an important precedent in international recognition of the rights of women and children.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Hutchinson,
President
National Council of Women of Canada
Copies to: Hon Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada
Hon Hedy Fry, Minister for the Status of Women
Hon Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice
Ruth Brown, NCWC Convener Health and Welfare
Catharine Laidlaw-Sly, NCWC VP Citizenship and International
Affairs
January 5, 2001: Letter to The Honourable Paul Martin Minister of Finance
January 5, 2001
The Honourable Paul Martin
Minister of Finance
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Dear Mr. Minister:
At its Annual General Meeting in 1999, members of the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) adopted a resolution entitled, "Cancellation of unsustainable debt of less developed countries", which voiced members?concern about the effects on the less developed countries of their increasingly unsustainable debt load. The NCWC has supported initiatives (such as the demands of the Canadian Women’s March Against Poverty and Violence) and projects which have shown that it is both economically feasible and socially imperative to cancel the debt owed by highly indebted poor countries. These debts have a particularly negative effect on women.
Accordingly, I am delighted to write to commend you, Mr. Martin, for your recent initiatives. We understand that the declaration of the moratorium begins the process of forgiving the debts of eleven of the world’s poorest countries who have satisfied Canada they will work towards democracy and the alleviation of poverty, and will not use the savings to finance war.
We urge you to continue to work with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to extend and complete the process of debt forgiveness as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Hutchinson
President
National Council of Women of Canada
cc: The Right Hon. Jean Chretien , Prime Minister
The Hon. John Manley, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Maria Neil, NCWC Convener Economics, President O-C Council of Women
January 5, 2001: Letter to The Right Honourable Jean Chretien Prime Minister
January 3, 2001: Letter to The Honourable Anne McLellan Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
January 3 2001
The Honourable Anne McLellan
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Room 707, Confederation Building
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A OA6
Dear Ms. McLellan:
I am writing to you today to urge the Government of Canada to adopt the recommendation of the Canadian Human Rights Review Panel (CHRRP), in its report, Promoting Equality: A New Vision (Department of Justice, June 2000), to add social condition to the prohibited grounds for discrimination listed in the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA). Our organization believes strongly that this issue should be a priority for the new Government.
As the report concludes, prejudice against the poor is widespread and systemic, based on characteristics related to social condition, such as poverty, low education, homelessness and illiteracy. Examples of prejudice are widespread in the media, and extend to questioning the moral worth of welfare recipients, the motivation of parents to look after their children and even their love for their children. One of the most blatant and best known examples came when Premier Mike Harris of Ontario cut a welfare supplement for pregnant beneficiaries, saying ".. we're making sure those dollars don't go to the beer .."; although he later apologized, the cuts were not reinstated. More recently, his Government is proposing legislation to have social assistance granted - conditional on recipients being declared drug free on mandatory tests. This must be seen as an infringement of human rights by any reasonable standards; yet the Premier apparently believes his legislation will not contravene the CHRA. Action is urgently needed to ensure that such legislation cannot be passed in Canada.
It is not only the provincial jurisdictions that are suspect. The CHRRP report also found widespread discrimination in services provided at the federal level, such as banking and telephone services or housing on Indian Reserves.
This widespread discrimination occurs in Canada, judged by the United Nations, in may respects, to be the best country in the world to live in. Moreover, the government of Canada is a signator of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: Everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age and other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Indeed, discrimination on the basis of social condition makes no economic sense. It prevents people from participating in the economic and social lives of their communities and contributing to their own rehabilitation. For example, cutting off a welfare supplement from pregnant beneficiaries increases the likelihood of low birth weight babies, which have many health problems and difficulties in development, and are a real burden on the health care system and social services.
The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) is very concerned about the discrimination that is being practiced in Canada today, and urges your government to amend the CHRA without delay to make social condition a prohibited ground for discrimination.
NCWC was founded in 1893. It is a non-profit organization of women's groups representing a large number of citizens of diverse occupation, language, origin and culture, reflecting a cross-section of public opinion. NCWC is composed of 20 local councils, five provincial councils, one study group and 26 nationally organized societies.
NCWC policy is formulated by means of local council initiative. Policy additions and changes are proposed, circulated and voted upon by the general membership. Council members may speak only on existing policy when contacting the government, the media and the public. Thus, this view is the united voice of the federated membership of the National Council of Women of Canada, which represents many thousands of women.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Hutchinson
President
National Council of Women of Canada
Copies: The Right Honourable Jean Chretien, Prime Minister;
The Honourable Allan Rock, Minister of Health;
The Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources;
The Honourable Alfonso Gagliano, Minister of Public Works and Government Services;
The Honourable Hedy Fry, Secretary of State, Status of Women
Maria Neil, NCWC Convener Economics, President OCLCW
How to Link to NCWC.CA
"Part of the The National Council of Women of Canada Action">
National Council of Women of Canada
1002-151 Slater Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1P 5H3
Toll Free Number: 1.877.319.0993
Local Number: 1.613.232.5025
Fax Number: 1.613.232.8419
Email: ncwc@ncwc.ca
URL: www.ncwc.ca
You may also contact the NEW President,
Catharine Laidlaw-Sly
at president@ncwc.ca
List and Biographies of all past Governor Generals of Canada
Since September 2005 the new Governor General of Canada,
is
Son Excellence la très honorable Michaële Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Gouverneure générale et Commandante en Chef du Canada
She followed the Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
Plus d'information sur Olga Drouin Obry Click here
Back to Danielle LeMyre
www.geocities.com/daniellla.geo
Click here to send me an E-Mail
dlemyre@yahoo.com
View NEW Guestbook
VOIR LES VISITES
Sign NEW Guestbook
SIGNEZ MON NOUVEAU LIVRE DE VISITE
View 1999-2000 PREVIOUS Guestbook
VOIR LE LIVRE 1999-2000 DES VISITES
|
