As the eldest of six children born to the founder of Canada's first socialist party, Grace MacInnis earned the nickname ''yeller baby'' because of her skill at grabbing attention in her rambunctious, politically pedigreed family.
The reputation would serve her well as a politician who blazed trails in the 1960s as B.C.'s first female member of Parliament.
Ms. MacInnis subscribed to the "squeaky wheel" school of politics, believing that relentless lobbying, letter-writing and speaking up eventually pays off. Her legacy shows she was frequently one step ahead of the times on the social issues of the day.
In the 1930s, she advocated birth control at a time when it was illegal to provide contraception. She argued for income for stay-at-home mothers in the 1940s, and abortion rights in the 1960s. She spoke out against the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
Former premier Mike Harcourt called her the "Amazing Grace of British Columbia." Another former premier, Dave Barrett, said she was a "feisty, dynamite human being" with a flair for backroom manoeuvring.
As a charter member of Canada's socialist party, Ms. McInnis remained true to her roots. Born in Winnipeg, her father was J. S. Woodsworth, the founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. She eventually married Vancouver CCF MP Angus MacInnis and settled on the West Coast, where she served as the B.C. president of the fledgling party. Later, she toured the province laying the groundwork for the New Democratic Party.
In the House of Commons, she championed the interests of the poor and spoke out for the reproductive rights of women, even when her speeches were drowned out by her heckling male colleagues.
Once, when she rose to speak on abortion, she waited for the jeers and giggles to die down before addressing her fellow MPs, whom she referred to as "MCPs." When later asked if MCPs meant Male Chauvinist Pigs, Ms. MacInnis smiled and replied: "MCP? . . . that's Member of the Canadian Parliament."
She said she knew her causes made men uncomfortable, but she persisted.
"They were embarrassed when I got on to these topics and wished the old girl would be quiet," she said.
Before her turn in Ottawa, she was NDP MLA for Vancouver-Burrard from 1941 to 1945.
"She was a very capable woman at a time when there were few women in [the]public domain," said University of British Columbia historian Jean Barman. "She helped to make the political middle left more relevant for many people in B.C."
At times, Ms. MacInnis was ahead of colleagues in her own party. In 1967, Ms. MacInnis initiated Canada's first parliamentary debate on abortion when she introduced the first abortion reform bill.
According to Ms. MacInnis's biographer, Sunny Lewis, abortion had been mentioned only twice before in Parliament. Ms. MacInnis told her biographer that party leader David Lewis preferred to dodge the abortion issue.
"We never brought it up in caucus," Ms. MacInnis said. " I don't think David Lewis had any use for abortion; he didn't look for any chance to discuss it. I used to watch for times when he'd be out of town on meetings when I'd have a chance to get up and air it. I didn't pull any punches on the thing at all, and I'm rather glad because I think it all helped."
In 1968, Ms. MacInnis introduced another bill that would make abortion a medical decision.
Then Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau later amended the Criminal Code, decriminalizing abortion.
Despite her campaigns for women's rights, Ms. MacInnis refused to call herself a feminist because she preferred to be seen as someone "coming up from the middle." Being labelled a feminist would make it easier for people to dismiss her causes, she said, and she thought it was politically wise to keep the ear of men in power.
Ms. MacInnis died in 1991 at age 85.
This is the fifth of an ongoing countdown to the greatest British Columbian in history. Our panel selects No. 7 tomorrow.