Another good feminist one is the Laura Secord one. I love the 'part of our heritage' moments. I know in my teacher's college, the professor encouraged us to use them in our classrooms too.

I think reminiscing about these is part of the true Canadian experience.

There's also:

Agnes MacPhail (first female MP)
Lucille Teasdale (one of Canada's first female surgeons)
Marion Orr (first Canadian woman to run a flight school)

I sure do. I loved those. :)

Oh my god, I remember these! I used to love them! I remember there was one about soldiers in war and something about toast... ok, my memory is foggy but I absolutely adored these things. At the time it was subconscious but I thought it was cool that women did these things. I grew up knowing that women had a huge influence on the Canada we have today. I feel very lucky that I had this as a part of my childhood.

I always liked the one about the school teacher trying to explain to a bunch of men who can't read how important her job is (granted, she teaches from the bible, but........).

By the way, Rodmond Roblin was premier of Manitoba.

I also like how the Canadian $50 depicts the women who fought for the passage of the Persons act, which granted Canadian women the right to sit in the senate. I wish Harper would show a little more consideration of women.

Oh my god, I remember these! I used to love them! I remember there was one about soldiers in war and something about toast... ok, my memory is foggy but I absolutely adored these things. At the time it was subconscious but I thought it was cool that women did these things. I grew up knowing that women had a huge influence on the Canada we have today. I feel very lucky that I had this as a part of my childhood.

Several things :

Emily Murphy didn't get women recognized as persons under the law, she got them recognized as persons under the law for the purpose of entering the Senate- see here http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/persons/brochure_e.html

Also, those videos are very problematic in terms of race, because none of them present any women of colour as having accomplished anything or anything about their lives- like slave Marie Joseph Angelique who was hung for supposedly setting her masters house on fire ( she was tortured into confessing) http://blackhistorypages.net/pages/mjangelique.php, or Mohawk Molly Brant of the Wolf clan who persuaded her people to take the side of the British during the American war of independence (remember, we were British back then) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Brant or Mary Ann Shadd Carry who dedicated her life to the abolition of slavery and the education of children, opening schools for black children when there were none- http://www.lkwdpl.org/WIHOHIO/cary-mar.htm . This is racism. There isn't even anything about anyone like Communist Jeanne Corbin (French immigrant as a child) who dedicated her life to the party,labour rights, revolution and organizing unions all over Canada. This is somewhat unsurprising given that these spots are created by the NFB, which according to an article in a book I am currently reading called "Gendering the Nation :Canadian Women's Cinema" is essentially a white middle class institution. These spots are meant encourage patriotism based on the actions of past Canadians, they define what our nation is- they create what is called a master narrative of the Canadian story. Point being, the vision, the master narrative of the nation by this arm of the government (and many many others, including the history taught in most schools) is non-inclusive, reinforces racism in Canada (after all if a group is important, their history is worth learning about) by not being inclusive and that all DRIVES ME EXTREMELY NUTS.

So to add on to my above post, I encourage everyone to go to your library,putter about online and to learn about women 's history, especially women of colour and others who are not part of the white, middle class history that is often taught us- that is not to deny that their accomplishments aren't valuable.

As a History major, I can't tell you how excited I am about someone saying positive about those heritage moments, and about someone showing interest in Canadian history (it's so rare sadly)!

I've only seen the one on Emily Murphy I think, so thanks for letting me know about the rest of them.

I'm writing a paper on the women's movement in Canada actually, so this post is perfect!

"Several things :

Emily Murphy didn't get women recognized as persons under the law, she got them recognized as persons under the law for the purpose of entering the Senate- see here http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/persons/brochure_e.html"

The question put to the Privy Council was, "Does the word 'Persons' in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?" Their answer changed Canadian law forever. They declared that women were persons for the purposes of s. 24 and then they further declared that "The British North America Act planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits. The object of the Act was to grant a Constitution to Canada. Like all written constitutions it has been subject to development through usage and convention." This "large and liberal interpretation" of the Constitution has been the main thrust of constitutional law in this country ever since.

In plain English, this meant that women were persons under the entire Constitution - not just for the purposes of s. 24 (the senate).