Genevieve Elsie Alice Lipsett (29 July 1885 – 29 January 1935) was an American-born Canadian journalist, teacher and suffragist. She was the first woman to became a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery (French: Tribune de la presse parlementaire), the association established to oversee rules and responsibilities of Canadian journalists when at Parliament Hill. After her marriage, she wrote under the byline "Genevieve Lipsett-Skinner."
Lipsett was born on 29 July 1885 in Kankakee, Illinois, United States.[1] Her parents were Robert and Annie Lipsett (néeMacdonald).[1][2] After her family moved to Canada, Lipsett was educated at public schools in Toronto and Manitoba, then at New York Grammar School.[1][2] She attended the New York Normal College from 1900 to 1903 and worked briefly as a teacher in a rural school in Manitoba.[1]
Lipsett moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1904, where she worked for the Winnipeg Telegram from 1914 as a reporter and editor of the paper's "Sunshine" department.[3] On 6 June 1911, Lipsett married Winnipeg businessman Robert Curtis Skinner, but retained her maiden name in her new byline of "Genevieve Lipsett-Skinner."[1][3]
In 1912, Lipsett was engaged in delivering talks in Britain and Ireland to promote the emigration of women to "the Dominion" (an historic title for Canada).[1][4] After returning to Canada, she was a founder member of the Manitoba Political Equality League,[1][3] which lobbied for women's suffrage at the provincial level. In 1913, she reported on infant mortality for the Winnipeg Telegram, where she continued to work until 1920.[1]
In 1918, Lipsett became the first married Canadian woman to qualify for a law degree from the University of Manitoba,[3][5][6] completing her examinations in 1920[7] and graduating with honours.[1]
In 1919, Lipsett's marriage ended[3] and she moved to Ottawa to live with her brother and became a political journalist.[1] Lipsett wrote for The Montreal Star[8] and Calgary Daily Herald. From 1922 to 1923, she wrote for the Vancouver Sun.[9] Women were barred from the all-male Canadian Press Club, so Lipsett became a member of the Canadian Women's Press Club,[10][11] later becoming president of the Winnipeg then Montreal branches of the club.[12] Lipsett was also director of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society[3] and president of the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.[13]
Lipsett was the first woman to became an officially accredited member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery (French: Tribune de la presse parlementaire),[9][14][15] the association established to oversee rules and responsibilities of Canadian journalists when at Parliament Hill. She joined in 1923[15][16] and left the Press Gallery in 1926.[14] From 1926 until her death Lipsett worked as The Montreal Star's Ottawa correspondent.[3]
12"Historique de la Tribune". Tribune de la presse parlementaire canadienne [Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery] (in Canadian French). Retrieved 21 April 2026.
