Women's Suffrage in Ontario the Beginning of Women’S Suffrage Movements

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY an educational resource OF ONTARIO MESSAGE TO TEACHERS This educational resource was developed to compliment the documentary Women Should Vote: A Short History of how Women Won the Franchise in Ontario (www.ola.org/en/visit-learn/ about-ontarios-parliament/womens-suffrage-ontario), A NOTE ON LANGUAGE which tells the story of the struggle for women’s Some historical terms used in this resource are suffrage in Ontario at the turn of the 20th century. no longer in common use. First Nations peoples in Canada were initially called “Indians” by colonial It invites students to deepen their understanding of Europeans. This term is no longer used, though gender equality and democracy through examining and “Status Indian” is still a legal definition and is analyzing the suffrage movement, and facilitates mentioned throughout this guide. “Status Indian” engaging discussions and activities. Students will does not include all Indigenous peoples – for examine issues of identity, equity, activism and example, Métis and Inuit are excluded (see the justice in historical and contemporary contexts. Glossary on Page 22 for more information). CONTENTS The Suffrage Movement in Running the Good Race ............. 9 Glossary ......................... 22 Ontario: Votes for Women ............ 2 Indigenous Suffrage ............... 11 Activities The Beginning of Women’s Clues from the Archives Suffrage Movements ................ 3 Final Reflections ..................13 (Designed for Grades 8-12) .......23 Should I Support the Vote? The Long Road Timeline of Women’s Suffrage (Designed for Grades 4-7) ........24 to Women’s Suffrage ................ 4 in Ontario and Canada ............. 14 Our Rights Today ................25 A New Century ..................... 5 Feature Figures Appendix A ....................... 26 Emily Stowe ....................15 Facing Opposition .................. 6 Mary Ann Shadd Cary ............16 Appendix B ....................... 30 Flora MacDonald Denison ........ 17 Triumph and the Margaret Haile . .18 Continuing Struggle ................. 7 Agnes Macphail ................19 Rae Luckock ...................20 Who was Excluded .................. 8 Edith Monture ..................21 THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN ONTARIO: VOTES FOR WOMEN LEFT: HANNAH WILLIAMS, ONE OF SEVEN WOMEN WHO VOTED IN THE WEST HALTON DISTRICT OF WHO COULD VOTE BEFORE CANADA WEST IN 1844. CONFEDERATION? Before Confederation, voting in the British colonies to vote. Following British common law customs, who inherited a portion of their that became Canada was restricted to British property-owning women in Upper Canada were husband’s property. One was Hannah subjects over the age of 21 who owned a specific unlikely to defy convention and vote. It was Williams, the daughter of Laura Secord, a War of amount of property. Voters were also required to different in Lower Canada (now Quebec) which 1812 heroine. Perhaps she was motivated by her swear a loyalty oath to the British Crown, which followed French civil law conventions – married mother’s strong actions to vote? disqualified Jewish, Quaker and Mennonite property women were allowed to own property and many owners as their faiths prohibited the taking of oaths. voted in the first half of the 19th century, until The candidate who lost the West Halton election Anyone convicted of a serious criminal offence or voting restrictions were also placed on them. called for a parliamentary investigation, claiming treason was not allowed to vote. Treaty land was that women voting was election fraud. Although the held in common by a First Nations group, so individual In 1844, at least seven women voted in the West election results were not overturned, this incident First Nations people could not meet the property Halton district of Canada West (now Ontario) in the led to the 1849 motion passed in the United Province qualification to vote. Black property owners were united Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) of Canada parliament that “proclaimed and decreed not officially excluded from voting, but their White election. This is the first recorded instance of women that no one woman shall have the right to vote at neighbours often prevented them from voting. violating common law tradition and voting. We can any election.” only speculate why these women decided to vote. The Constitution Act of 1791 did not specifically Some people claim they were pressured by male A small victory was won in 1850 with the Act for the prohibit women from voting in Upper Canada (now relatives in a hotly contested district, but it is equally Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Ontario). However, married women could not own likely that they were inspired by their own political Schools in Upper Canada – any “fit and proper property, and it was unlikely that widows and single beliefs or wanted a say in local issues. Six out of the persons” who owned property could vote for women could accumulate enough property to qualify seven women have been identified. All were widows school trustees. This included women. 02 WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE IN ONTARIO THE BEGINNING OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENTS he push for women’s suffrage in Canada gained Tpopularity in the 1870s. Those who were in favour of extending equal voting rights to men and women were met with firm opposition. Most men and women believed that a woman’s place was in the home, that women had no interest in voting, and that they were not capable of making decisions about who to vote for. The women who pushed for voting rights were called the same rights. The social argument was based on ABOVE: THE CANADIAN suffragists, and they formed networks across the the idea that women’s unique experience caring for SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION province and country. Suffragists were not a families would improve society if they were allowed MARCHES IN THE politically uniform and socially cohesive group – to vote. Many suffragists would use these arguments WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE they represented a wide range of social bacgrounds interchangeably, tailoring their speech, petition or PARADE IN NEW YORK and ideals. Some wanted rights for homemakers, meeting to what work best with the audience they CITY, OCTOBER 23, 1915. others were part of the temperance movement and were addressing. ©BETTMANN/CORBIS wanted to ban the sale of alcohol, and others were searching for more wide-reaching societal change, Ontario suffragists were not alone in their strug- such as gender and racial equality. gle. They took inspiration from their American and British counterparts, as well as suffragists across There were two main arguments that suffragists other provinces. Suffragists across North America developed to explain why women deserved the vote. and Britain exchanged correspondence, sharing The equal rights argument was based on the idea triumphs and setbacks. that women are equal to men and therefore deserve 03 WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE IN ONTARIO RIGHT: THE STEPHENS SISTERS (ELLEN, ELIZA, THE LONG RACHAEL, MARY) WERE MEMBERS OF THE OWEN SOUND WOMEN’S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE ROAD TO UNION. MARY WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE OWEN SOUND CHAPTER. COURTESY OF THE WOMEN’S GREY ROOTS ARCHIVAL COLLECTION. BOTTOM: THE WCTU SUFFRAGE RIBBON, COURTESY OF THE WOMEN’S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION y the mid-1880s, the idea of women’s suffrage In the 1890s, the suffrage movement gained Bwas gaining some popularity. Ontario women an important ally from Canada’s largest women’s increasingly protested against discrimination in group, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union education, employment, and society’s acceptance (WCTU). They believed that giving women the of violence against women and children. Male unionists vote would lead to prohibition of alcohol, which The most celebrated Ontario mock parliament was and socialists joined the suffrage cause, but the would in turn reduce violence against women held in Toronto on February 18th, 1896. Well-known movement was still decades away from winning and children. suffragist Emily Stowe took on the role of Premier. over the majority of the population. There were men and women in the audience, and Suffragists worked hard for their cause. They the three major local newspapers all published In 1885, MPP John Waters introduced a Bill in confronted governments, wrote articles, presented enthusiastic reviews, with the Toronto Star calling Ontario’s Legislature that proposed giving the petitions, held lectures, and organized parades. the evening “heaps of fun.” Despite the evening franchise to women. The Bill was defeated. MPP Staging mock parliaments also helped spread being a success, it did not lead directly to any Waters introduced a Bill on women’s enfranchisement the importance of women’s suffrage. advancements of Ontario’s suffrage cause. each year until 1893, all of which were defeated. Waters tried to convince his fellow parliamentarians Mock parliaments were held across Canada, that suffrage was a part of natural evolution in with at least seven staged in Ontario. These were political life, but his opponents felt it threated performances with clear political messages, and domestic life. Laughter rang out in the Legislature the goal was to raise money and generate sympathy when he introduced his Bills. Bills supporting for women’s suffrage. Mock parliaments presented women’s enfranchisement were introduced in other women as the ones who could vote, and made provincial legislatures as well as the House of arguments why men should not get the right to vote. Commons around this time, but all were defeated.

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