In Part 3 of "Being Heard," we learned how Canadian suffrage grew from a grassroots movement to an undeniable force thanks to some key players. In Part 4...
In 1915, the Roblin government was capsized by scandal and the Liberals swept to power. [In August 1915,] Premier Tobias Norris pledged his government would grant women the vote if formally presented with a petition signed by 17,000 supporters. On 23 December, [6] the Political Equality League [and Icelandic Manitoban women] sent a delegation to present [9] a scroll...listing 39,584 signatures. A second petition accounted for 4,250 names collected by Amelia Burdett of Sturgeon Creek [a neighbourhood in Winnipeg], Manitoba, age 94.
On 28 January 1916, Manitoba women became the first in Canada to win the right to vote and the right to hold provincial office. However, they could not vote in federal elections, a separate jurisdiction. [6]
The First World War [which began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918] interrupted the suffrage campaigns and divided activists. Many concentrated on supporting the war effort...in groups such as Women’s Patriotic Fund. Socialists and pacifists...endorsed the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, formed in 1915. [5]
Many [women] saw the war as an opportunity to not only serve their [country] but to gain more rights and independence. [10] More than 2,800 women served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, and roughly 2,500 went overseas where they served close to the front lines in hospitals, on board ships, and in combat zones with field ambulance units…
Over 40 lost their lives while in service, and of this number between 20 and 30 were killed by enemy action…
[I]n the labour market[, o]ver 30,000 women worked outside the home in munitions factories, offices and in the countryside on their family farms due to the shortage of male workers. [11]
When the war had begun, [Prime Minister Robert Borden] had promised not to enact conscription. But losses at the front meant that he had to break this promise. Which presented a problem for his [1917] re-election campaign. The solution? Change the voting laws in his favour.
In September, the House of Commons passed the 1917 Wartime Elections Act, under the leadership of Robert Borden. The new rules specified that “enemy aliens” (Canadian immigrants who had been born in an “enemy” country after March 1902) and conscientious objectors, in other words, those most opposed to conscription, were barred from voting unless they had a son, grandson, or brother serving as a solider. And further, the mothers, wives, widows, or brothers of soldiers (or those allegedly more likely to support conscription) were granted the right to vote, unless they were otherwise excluded…
It’s unclear whether or not the Wartime Elections Act made any difference in terms of Borden’s campaign, but he was re-elected. [3]
[Borden’s g]overnment wished...to acknowledge women’s contribution to the war effort...by extending the franchise. [5] [T]he 1918 Act to Confer the Electoral Franchise Upon Women...permitted women to vote so long as they met the same eligibility criteria of men. [3]
I]t’s important to note that not all women gained the right to vote in Manitoba in 1916—or federally in 1918 for that matter. It would be a long road before First Nations and Inuit women (and men) won the franchise. The same was true for many Asian and South Asian communities. [6]
Asian women and men waited until 1948 to receive the vote, the year of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Canada helped to draft and then adopted. [5]
Status Indians would not gain the right to vote in federal elections until 1960.
The Inuit, who were not included in the Indian Act, were barred from voting with the passage of the 1934 Dominion Franchise Act. The Inuit did not regain the right to vote in federal election until 1950, without any qualifications. However, even though they were eligible to vote as of 1950, most Inuit were unable to vote until the 1962 election, since beforehand they were rarely added to voting lists and ballot boxes were not provided to all Inuit communities.
And these are just the restrictions put in place. There is also the matter of accessibility, since individuals with disabilities were often unable to vote due to physical barriers. [3]
In the early 1980s, a special House of Commons committee on the disabled...heard complaints throughout its hearings that the voting systems at the national and provincial levels made it difficult for many Canadians with disabilities to vote on election day. Polling stations were often located too far away and/or were inaccessible. At that time, only one jurisdiction in the country, Manitoba, had made provisions for a postal vote system for general elections. The parliamentary committee argued that Canada Elections Act should reflect the fundamental principle that elections are conducted for the convenience of all voters, including seniors and people with disabilities, and therefore made recommendations on providing polls at hospitals, nursing homes, and apartment buildings. [12]
Unbelievably it wasn’t until 1982 in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that all citizens were given the right to vote. [13]
[1] “Canadian Women’s History”, Public Service Alliance of Canada ,January 9, 2013
https://psac-ncr.com/canadian-womens-history/,
[2] Katherine, “Women and the Vote in Canada: a Timeline”, Toronto Reference Library Blog, January 27, 2016
https://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/trl/2016/01/women-and-the-vote-in-canada-a-timeline.html
[3] Andrea Eidinger, “Inconvenient Pasts: Women’s Suffrage in English Canada”, Unwritten Histories, February 13, 2018
https://www.unwrittenhistories.com/inconvenient-pasts-womens-suffrage-in-english-canada/
[4] “Background Information: Women and the Vote”, Elections Canada, 2024
[5] Veronica Strong-Boag, “Women’s Suffrage in Canada”, The Canadian Encyclopedia, June 21, 2016
[6] The Canadian Encyclopedia staff, “Women’s Suffrage in Manitoba”, The Canadian Encyclopedia, May 6, 2016
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/womens-suffrage-in-manitoba#:~:text=On
%2028%20January%201916%2C%20Manitoba,federal%20politicians%20to%20enfranchise
[7] Kym Bird, “Mock Parliament”, The Canadian Encyclopedia, April 14, 2016
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mock-parliament-1914
[8] Linda McDowell, “Political Equality League (1912-1916)”, The Nellie McClung Foundation, 2024 https://www.nelliemcclungfoundation.com/political-equality-league
[9] “Political Equality of Manitoba”, Archives of Manitoba,
[10] “Women in WWI”, The National WWI Museum and Memorial,
https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/women
[11] “Women Veterans”, Government of Canada
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/women-veterans/timeline
[12] Michael J Prince, “Electoral Insight—Persons with Disabilities and Elections”, Elections Canada, April 2004 https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=eim/issue10&document=p2&lang=e
[13] Judith Kays, “Your vote is your voice: use it! Why it’s important to exercise your right to vote as a Canadian”, Saltwire, posted October 7, 2019
Audur Styrkarsdottir, “Women’s Suffrage in Iceland”, 2006
https://kvennasogusafn.is/index.php?page=Womens-Suffrage-in-Iceland
Thank you for reading "Being Heard."
