Selflessly Stepping Aside: One MPP’s Kindness for Another’s “Double Crown”
Ontario’s first two women Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) faced a dilemma. Who would be sworn in first? The woman whose last name gave her priority? Or the woman who, if sworn in first, would be known as the first woman parliamentarian elected federally and provincially in Ontario? This is the story of one woman’s selflessness and two women’s pathbreaking achievement.
Kaitlin Gallant
Kaitlin Gallant was selected to be part of the 2023-2024 Ontario Legislature Internship Programme. She completed a month-long placement with the Canadian Parliamentary Review in October 2023.
It was the summer of 1943 and the Ontario Legislature was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. The 21st Parliament had just been elected and it was a historic moment in Canadian and Ontarian politics. The Progressive Conservatives, led by George Drew, formed a minority government – the beginning of that party’s remarkable 42-year run in office. The Co- operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) propelled forward, forming the Official Opposition for the first time, while the previously governing Liberals fell into third place.
More exciting, however, was that two incoming MPPs, Rae Luckock and Agnes Macphail, had just made history by becoming the first women to hold seats in Ontario’s legislature.
Rae Luckock and Agnes Macphail were no strangers to breaking barriers. Macphail had already made history in 1921 by becoming the first woman elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa. Luckock was a school trustee in Toronto and social justice and peace activist.
Soon, they were set to take their oaths of office as Members of Provincial Parliament. Yet, upon preparing for the swearing-in ceremonies, a dilemma arose.
According to parliamentary protocol, Luckock should be sworn in first because her last name came before Macphail in alphabetical order. As both women were members of the CCF, their senior party officials encouraged Luckock to be sworn in after Macphail, even though she was entitled to be sworn in first.
The party made a great deal of Macphail’s “double crown,” being the first female member in Ottawa and at Queen’s Park. Selflessly, Luckock agreed, ensuring that her fellow pioneer would be the first woman to be sworn in.1
The two women, now forever linked by history, went on to champion their causes at Queen’s Park with great determination, knowing that they had broken down a barrier that had existed for far too long.
Interestingly, their bond did not extend to an especially warm relationship as caucus colleagues. In an Active History profile titled “A woman erased from history: The ghosting of Rae Luckock,” Dean Beeby notes Luckcock’s CCF colleagues began to undermine her. “Leading the charge was none other than Agnes Macphail,” he writes. “Macphail disliked Rae intensely, for reasons that remain unclear. ‘She tried to get along with Agnes Macphail, but Agnes was a man’s woman,’ [Luckcock’s husband] Richard recalled. ‘Whenever Rae had a question about something, Agnes would say ‘Read up about it.’ She never got advice about anything.’”2
Despite whatever personal animus existed between the two MPPs, both made strong contributions to parliament. Macphail vigorously advocated for gender equality and social equity and was instrumental in the enactment of Ontario’s inaugural equal pay law, the Employees Fair Remuneration Act of 1951.3 Luckock held the role of Education Critic within the CCF, where she championed the idea of tuition-free universities and improving rural education. She ardently supported gender equality by advocating for equal compensation for equal work and recognizing the value of homemakers’ contributions.4
They inspired generations of women to follow, ensuring that the path they had forged would lead to a brighter future of equality and progress in Canadian politics. Luckock’s selflessness allowed Agnes Macphail to claim the title of the first woman parliamentarian “double crown,” but both women’s work paved the way for others.
Notes
- Michael Dawber, After You, Agnes… Mrs. Rae Luckock, MPP, Quinte-Web Press, Tweed, 1994, p. 33.
- Dean Beeby. “A woman erased from history: The ghosting of Rae Luckock.” Active History, December 12, 2022. URL: https://activehistory.ca/ blog/2022/12/12/a-woman-erased-from-history-the- ghosting-of-rae-luckock/
- Agnes Campbell Macphail, MPP 1943-48 and 1948-51, URL: https://www.ola.org/en/photo/agnes-campbell-macphail-mpp-1943-48-1948-51
- Rae Lucock, MPP 1943-1945, URL: https://www.ola.org/en/photo/rae-luckock-mpp-1943-1945