Re: 鈥淭ribute to the power of one,鈥� editorial, Nov. 20.
Courageous as Viola Desmond鈥檚 actions were, they pale beside those of Nellie McClung. A suffragette, McClung helped to win women the vote in Manitoba. She championed property rights for married women, mothers鈥� allowances, and factory safety legislation for both sexes. She wrote books and served in many organizations. As one of the Famous Five in 1927, she fought for and achieved the status of 鈥減ersons鈥� for women in sa国际传媒, so they could run for public office.
She sat as an MLA in Alberta. Besides all that she raised, with her husband, Robert Wesley McClung, four sons and a daughter.
She and her husband moved to the Victoria area in 1935, where she lived until her death in 1951. She is buried in Saanich鈥檚 Royal Oak Burial Park.
The strike against her? She favoured eugenics, the forced sterilization of people deemed unfit. Like Sir John A. Macdonald with his schools for native children, she backed a cause popular then, but discredited now.
Also, your editorial聽misleads. Never is one person alone responsible for social change. Multiple recognized and unrecognized efforts are always there as well, from friends and family to opponents, news editors and legislators. The truth is that we all are agents of social change by our actions large and small.
聽Brad Bird
Parksville
