Doris Anderson, the longtime editor of Chatelaine who used the magazine to bring women's rights to the forefront, died in Toronto on Friday at the age of 85.

She was suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, CBC News has confirmed.

Doris Anderson, shown in this undated photo, took the helm of Chatelaine in 1957. In one of her first editorials, she demanded the presence of more women MPs.

Anderson, who grew up in poverty in Calgary, took the helm of Chatelaine in 1957 and quickly tackled hard-hitting issues such as the wage gap, birth control and abortion. One of her first editorials demanded the presence of more women in Parliament.

In the 20 years she served as editor, Chatelaine's circulation tripled.

"Doris was quietly putting out the most seditious magazine in the country," June Callwood, a television and magazine journalist, said about Anderson in 1997. "She was saying to women, 'Stand up.'"

Anderson, who married lawyer David Anderson and had three sons, heeded her own advice and always took a stand.

In 1981, when Parliament was about to pass the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Anderson lobbied hard to have a clause added that guaranteed the equal rights of men and women.

"It was clear that the charter of rights could do good things for women or, if it was a bad charter, it could be a terrible problem for women for generations to come," she once said. 

'When you think about it, she altered the way this entire country looks at 52 per cent of the population, the women and girls.'

—Sally Armstrong, filmmaker and activist

While Anderson made a name for herself as an editor and activist, she never forgot her hard childhood.

Her unwed mother initially gave her up to a home for unwanted children in Calgary, but reclaimed her several months later.

Anderson and her mother eked out a meagre existence running a boarding house during the Depression. Anderson's father, a heavy drinker, came into Anderson's life when she was eight and married her mother.

"My personal scars are that you always feel there's going to be a rock in the snowball," she once said.

Anderson put herself through university and moved to Toronto after her graduation in 1945 to become a journalist.

She started at the now-defunct Star Weekly magazine. She joined Chatelaine in 1951 as an editorial assistant and quickly climbed the ranks.

Later, she went on to write three novels and a book called The Unfinished Revolution, which chronicled 20 years of the women's movement.

"Doris Anderson was a truly remarkable Canadian," said Sally Armstrong, a filmmaker and human rights activist.

"When you think about it, she altered the way this entire country looks at 52 per cent of the population, the women and girls."