After five weeks of debate, the court ruled that the word 'person' would continue to exclude women. The five women then went to London, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain, this being the highest level of court appeal possible at the time. On October 18, 1929, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, Lord Sankey, announced that the court's decision was that the word 'person' would include women: "The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word "person" should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?" In 1979, on the 50th anniversary of the Privy Council's decision, the Canadian government instituted the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case to recognize outstanding contributions in advancing equality for women in Canada. The Awards are presented at a ceremony each Persons Day. People can be nominated annually to receive honours for their contributions to gender equality. See also Edwards v Canada (AG) The Famous Five (Canada) Feminism in Canada References External links Persons Day October 18 Background Nellie Langford Rowell Library. York University A day to remember 'the famous five' David Asper, National Post, Wednesday, October 18, 2006 Scholars in Unofficial observances October observances