October 18, 2000
Canada Honouring Advocates of Racial Hygiene

Campaign Life Coalition Youth (CLCY) opposes the monument on Parliament Hill commemorating "The Famous Five," CLCY national director Tanya Granic said today.

Three of the five women - Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, and Henrietta Edwards - were strong supporters of the eugenics movement, which pushed for the mandatory sterilization of Canadians deemed "inferior." They wanted to protect Canada from the "offal of humanity" (as Emily Murphy put it) - especially the mentally and physically handicapped.

"This is a sad and often overlooked part of Canadian history," Granic said. "These women sought to clean up the Canadian gene pool by effectively labeling a class of human beings 'non-persons.' And today another class of human beings is being denied personhood and eliminated by 'The Famous Five's feminist successors.

For more information, please contact:

Tanya Granic at Campaign Life Coalition Youth (416) 204-9749; or
Karen Murawsky at Campaign Life Coalition (613) 729-0379

Campaign Life Coalition is Canada's national pro-life organization.