I owe great thanks to many people who contributed to this project.

First and foremost, I want to thank the extraordinary women featured in this book. They represent an important part of Canada’s history and have inspired more people than they know—including me. I also want to thank the No Second Chances team at Canada 2020 who enthusiastically supported this exploration, including Alex Paterson, Mira Ahmad, Sarah Turnbull, Aaron Reynolds, and Adam Caplan.

This book benefitted from thoughtful feedback from Susan Graham, Lee Helmer, Pam Hrick, Jonathan Scott, Orla Rose Fleet, Greta Fleet, Emma Harmos and Rachel Harmos. Sarah Kabani provided invaluable political research and editing assistance, supported by Huron University College and the McGorman Family Faculty Development Fund. I also want to thank Andrea Knight and Margie, Gillian, Melissa and the team at Second Story Press for believing in this project and working with me (through pregnancy and a pandemic!) to see it through to completion.

Finally, I thank Jesse for being a true partner in every sense and baby Flora for being the inspiration for this book.