Women’s suffrage and Native rights in Canada Discrimination and struggle: Women’s suffrage and Native rights in Canada

Women’s Suffrage and Social Reform At the turn of the century, women , Native Canadians, immigrants of Asian descent, and other newcomers to Canada did not have many rights. None of the above had the right to vote, and there was very little equality. Before the invention of such things as the washing machine; housework and child rearing consumed much of the average women’s day. Large families were common, and the risk of death or disability at child birth was high. Educational expectations were low because most women did not work outside the home after marriage. 1900, only 15% of the undergraduates at university were women. Women were banned from professions like law, and they were not eligible for scholarships.

The Laurier era Women’s suffrage came to the forefront in the Laurier era. These women were devoted to social reform, and trying to get the right to vote. Suffragists blamed the problems of society on the growing problem of alcoholism. Problems like child neglect and poverty were some of the things they looked at. 1885: the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was created, and they promoted prohibition.

Maternal feminists Suffragist were also know as “maternal feminists” because they believed that the skills of wives and mothers would bring a fresh, compassionate perspective to a male-dominated government. They believed that female influence could change laws to improve the lives of women and children. The suffragist movement was a worldwide movement. The campaign was led by the Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association, which was supported by the National Council of Women of Canada, founded by Lady Aberdeen. She was the wife of the Governor General, and had great influence because of her husband.

Women’s Suffrage on the prairies The earliest successes for the suffragist movement came on the prairies. Some believe it was a result of the hardships women went through in the west being right beside the men when settling and beginning a homestead. Prairie men were more inclined to give the vote because they saw what the women had gone through, and considered them more as equals as a result. It was a way for the farmers of the west to increase the farm vote to influence provincial governments. The west was the first to grant women’s suffrage.

THE VOTE Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta were the first to grant to vote to women in 1916. Time Line 7-1 pg. 277 of your text. In BC the fight for Suffrage was one that would last more than 45 years. 1871, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony visited Victoria and spoke for women’s rights. Following year a bill was proposed and turned down. 1873, women who had property had the right to vote in municipal elections. 1899, another suffrage bill was shot down in legislature, but this time only by a vote of 15-17. 1912, suffrage was a part of the Liberal campaign in BC. 1916, a referendum was passed on the issue, and in 1917 BC granted women the right to vote and hold political office.

NELLY MCCLUNG and the famous five It was believed that politics was a “man’s work”. It was beliefs like this that hindered the women’s suffrage movement. Nelly McClung was a well know suffragist. Campaigned for women’s rights. Was instrumental in the famous ‘Person's Case’ which saw Canadian women declared persons in 1929. She helped put on a play called ‘The Women's Parliament,’ a satire which turned the tables and poked fun at the dangers of giving men the right to vote. This was instrumental in getting women the right to vote in Manitoba first. Canada had the group know as the “famous five”. Nellie McClung, Emily Murphy, Henrietta Edwards, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby.

Women’s Suffrage and Social Reform

The Rights of the Native Peoples With the policy of assimilation, the survival of native lands and culture was being threatened. The government was attempting to make treaties to free up land for European settlement. Aboriginal people wanted to retain their culture, land, and traditions. To do so they based their claims on the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which recognized them as “Nations or Tribes, ” which had extended to them the protection of Britain, and recognized their right to own the land they had used and occupied.

Residential schooling Residential schools become common place in the policy for assimilation. Removing the children from their families was detrimental to all were removed at min. for 10 months a year. 1910, more than 60 school existed, most run by Christian religious groups. 1931 was the peak of residential school operation; 80 schools operated in Canada The Children received manual, vocational, and religious instruction in Christian faith. Were taught that their peoples ways were the ways of the devil They were not allowed to practice their traditions or culture, and could not speak in their language. Rampant physical, emotional, and sexual abuse has been reported We are receiving new information that nutritional and starvation experiments were conducted on the children. It made it difficult to preserve and pass on their culture to future generations. The effects were detrimental on the construction of family units and for reintegration after school was over.

The Rights of the Native Peoples

The Rights of the Native Peoples

Native peoples of bc The BC native were unique in their situation because they had been sheltered from a lot of the large scale settlement in Canada. It allowed them to retain the land longer. Overlap between the federal and provincial government responsibilities caused confusion in the ownership of Native lands. Provincial was control of Native lands, and federal was responsible for Indian affairs.

NATIVE PEOPLES OF BC CONTINUED.. Settlers flooded BC during the Laurier era and this caused problems with issues of land and title to it. The federal government believed reserves were a priority. 1900, only 15 treaties had been concluded with the 200 BC native bands. 1911 the Native bands united to press for aboriginal title to the land, and they presented their claim to the provincial government. The problem was the provincial and federal governments could not agree on how to respond to the claims.

THE McKENNA-MCBRIDE ROYAL COMMISSION The McKenna-McBride Royal Commission was established to look and determine the size and location of Native reserves. It recommended adding land but taking away some of the most valuable land. The problem was that the Indian Act of 1876 did not allow for cut-off lands unless the Native people agreed- which they did not. The Allied Tribes of BC rejected the report, and the federal government passed a law removing the requirement for consent to the sale of cut-off lands. The government believed they had closed the issue of land claims, but they Natives believed the issue was far from over. Nisga’s Land Claims on pg 280-282 of your text.