On International Women’s Day (March 8), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Finance Bill Morneau announced that a new polymer bank note featuring an iconic Canadian woman will be issued in late 2018. The Bank of Canada is inviting the public to nominate women from Canada’s past who are deserving of this recognition.
On International Women’s Day (March 8), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Finance Bill Morneau announced that a new polymer bank note featuring an iconic Canadian woman will be issued in late 2018. The Bank of Canada is inviting the public to nominate women from Canada’s past who are deserving of this recognition.
“I am pleased to have nominated aeronautical engineer Elsie MacGill to appear on the new Canadian bank note,” said Engineers Canada Chief Executive Officer Kim Allen, FEC, P.Eng., FCAE, MBA. “And I encourage other engineers, the engineering profession, and all Canadians who have benefitted from her advocacy of women and children to nominate her as well.”
MacGill was the first Canadian woman to earn an electrical engineering degree and was the first woman in North America—and possibly the world—to earn a master’s degree in aerospace engineering.
As the Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Canadian Car & Foundry (CC&F) during World War II, MacGill made Canada a powerhouse of aircraft construction. She was in charge of all the engineering work related to Canadian production of the Hawker Hurricane fighter plane and oversaw operations at CC&F as it expanded from 500 workers to 4,500, where t would produce three Hawkers per day and a total of 1,450 over the course of just two years. 60 per cent of air victories by the Royal Air Force during the war involved this single-seat fighter aircraft.
After her work at CC&F, she established and ran a successful aeronautical consulting business.
In the 1960s, she dedicated a significant amount of her time to advancing women’s rights and was named to the Royal Commission for the Status of Women in 1967. MacGill once said, “I have received many engineering awards, but I hope I will also be remembered as an advocate for the rights of women and children.”
“MacGill was a remarkable woman of many accomplishments,” said Sarah Devereaux, P.Eng., FEC, Chair of Engineers Canada’s Sustainable Profession Committee. “She is an inspiration for women in the engineering profession, and she paved the way for a generation of young women, showing them by example that any goal in life is attainable through hard work and determination.
“She is absolutely deserving of the honour of being featured on the new bank note.”
MacGill worked tirelessly to advance women’s rights up until her death in 1980. During her long and distinguished career, she was deservedly awarded many honours, including the Gzowski Medal by the Engineering Institute of Canada (1941); the Centennial Medal by the Government of Canada (1967); Order of Canada (1971); the Julian Smith Award from the Engineering Institute of Canada (1973); and the Gold Medal of the Professional Engineers Ontario (1979). She was also inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in the 1980s, and into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in 1992.
Her work resonated not only in Canada, but also internationally. Her work during WWII inspired an American comic strip entitled "Queen of the Hurricanes: Elsie MacGill." She was the first non-American to be named “Woman Engineer of the Year” by the American Society of Women Engineers, who also presented her with their Award for Meritorious Contribution to Engineering in 1953. She was also presented with the Amelia Earhart Medal from the International Association of Women Pilots in 1975.
The Bank of Canada’s open call for nominations is now underway and will close on April 15, 2016. To learn more about the criteria and the selection process, or to nominate someone, visit the Bank of Canada’s website.
An initial list of 10-12 names will be published on the Bank’s website and a public opinion survey will follow to gauge the views of Canadians regarding the nominees. An Advisory Council will then develop a short list of three to five names, from which the Minister of Finance will select the one woman to be featured on the bank note.
