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Friday, October 16, 2009

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RECOGNITION OF ISLAND RECIPIENT OF GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD IN COMMEMORATION OF THE PERSONS CASE

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CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI -- As one of this year’s recipients of the Governor General’s Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case, Daphne E. Dumont of Charlottetown recently traveled to Rideau Hall in Ottawa to accept the prestigious award says Honourable Valerie E. Docherty, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

“I am delighted to congratulate Daphne Dumont on the Governor General’s Award achievement,” said Minister Docherty. ”This national recognition for an Islander’s contribution to women’s equality is one that we can all take great pride in.”

Celebrating their 30th anniversary, the awards recognize outstanding individuals who have helped to advance the goal of equality for women.

Daphne E. Dumont earned her law degree at Oxford University in 1976, becoming the first woman admitted to study law at any of the Oxford men’s colleges. She became the third woman president of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), and its first-ever president from Prince Edward Island. Daphne is a founding member of the Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF).

She has devoted countless hours to volunteering for community groups, including the Community Legal Information Association and the Canadian Federation of University Women, providing advice on family law, legal aid and access to justice. From 1991 to1993, she served on the National Task Force on Gender Equality in the Legal Profession, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Bertha Wilson.

In 2006, Daphne won the CBA’s Touchstones Award for promoting equality in the Canadian legal profession. She recently completed five years of service on a CIDA-funded development project to introduce civil legal aid to rural China.

Persons Day is celebrated each year in Canada on October 18, in recognition of the Persons Case, which is a historical landmark in the fight for equality by Canadian Women. In 1929, The “Famous Five” struggled for and won the right for women to be legally recognized as persons and, therefore, eligible to sit in the Senate.

For more information, please contact Michelle Harris-Genge, Director, Interministerial Women's Secretariat at (902) 368-5557.

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Media Contact: Julie Whitlock.