Agnes Macphail's Suffrage In Canada

720 Words3 Pages
year, Ontario and British Columbia also granted suffrage to women. By the end of the war, all women over the age of 21 (except Aboriginals, Asians, and women of other racial minorities) were permitted to vote. Dominion Elections Act of 1920, allowed women to also run parliament. Although women were still considered inferior to men in some respects, Canadian suffragists during World War I helped Canada take the first steps towards the victory of gender equality that exists today. Agnes Macphail, the first Female Member of Parliament, was instrumental in securing the right for women to vote and used to say that she did not want to be the angel of the home, she only wanted for herself what she wanted for all other woman and that was “absolute…show more content…
These tasks were demanding and stressful on their bodies and minds. These new duties uprooted them from the comforts of homes, away from their children and placed them, amid other places, directly into factories where the stench of gun powder was overwhelming. The munitions factories became operated by women. Women were also required to handle family finances, operate and control family farming, become nurses to the sick and injured. Many women were sent to the Western front to provide aid. Approximately 2400 Canadian women were sent as far as Europe to work as nurses and provide care. The demands were great. By 1915 nearly 30,000 Canadian women had taken on these new roles and challenges. Being plucked out of your home without resistance to assist where needed only when it was convenient for the government seemed unfair to women, however they did not protest. Unfortunately women were not compensated for their efforts in the same manner as men were. These new roles were no less difficult then if a man was taking it on, yet women were paid half of what the men were paid for the same job. Once the war ended, women were laid off from their jobs and sent back to the home, again due to convenience, since the employment was now…show more content…
Women continually represent stability, grace, principle and success. While the undermining of their ability and character by anti suffragists, proved to work for a short time, women maintained their resiliency and consequently rose to the top, not out of convenience to any other Canadian, but rather for the simple fact that women themselves understood clearly that they deserved to be there. Allowing women the right to vote opened doors in industry, technology and medicine, not to mention the government sector. The war and post war eras have shown women to have their voices heard and light the path for others. Based on the research presented, it is accurate to say that women in Canada were granted rights, such as the right to vote, when it suited those needing to hear “their voice” and not because Canadians at large felt women were worthy of such

    More about Agnes Macphail's Suffrage In Canada

      Open Document