Laura Sabia (1916 to 1996)

Laura Sabia was a feminist social activist whose advocacy work resulted in the creation of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada in 1967.

As the women’s equality movement gained momentum in the 1960s, Laura led a coalition of 32 women’s groups as the president of the Canadian Federation of University Women in a campaign that pressured the Canadian government to establish an inquiry into the status of women. Laura promised a march of two million women on Parliament Hill if action wasn’t taken, leading Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to ultimately agree to the commission, which was mandated to recommend steps the federal government could take “to ensure equal opportunities for women in all aspects of the Canadian society.” Her unprecedented work united women’s organizations in advocating together for the rights of Canadian women. Laura was a founding member of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, and its first president from 1969 to 1973.

Laura was elected and served as a city councillor in St. Catharines, Ontario from 1963 to 1968, and ran in two federal elections as a Progressive Conservative Party candidate. She wrote weekly columns for the Toronto Sun in the 1970s and 80s. Laura was also a radio hotline host for eight years and used this platform to provoke social change.

In 1974, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1983, she was awarded a Governor General’s award in commemoration of the Persons Case.

“I was not one of them [other women]. I am not one of them. Outspoken, irreverent, questioning—I will never be one of them. I accept that now, I even glory in it. I have paid the price and reaped the rewards. I would not change it.”