Woman's Equality in the Halls of Canadian Democracy

Since the 19th Century, women in Canada have fought political, legal, and social battles to find their place in Canadian society. From starting out in small, local organizations, to legal battles in the Supreme Court, Canadian women have come a long way. Unfortunately, it took a long time for many people to adapt to the changing roles of women, which made women still feel unequal compared to men. It is really striking to think that at one point society questioned if women could even be considered persons, just a small sample of the many changes women had to face through the course of history. This paper will analyze these changes experienced by Canadian women in that time period and how it affected their everyday lives.

The first reason that shows that Canada has become a “just society” is the changes to women’s legal rights. Since the 1970s, many women have stepped up to the work of politics. Several instances include Kim Campbell, the first woman to become the prime minister of Canada,1 Kathleen Wynne, the first premier of Canada to be lesbian,2 Beverley McLachlin, the “first female chief of justice of the Supreme Court of Canada,”3 and Catherine Callbeck, the second female provincial premiere and first woman to win

Every woman has the right to moral, legal and political choice. As we look to the past, women fought for the right to be treated the same as men and fundamentally to have the same rights as men. Prior to the turn of the century, women had little to no rights. World War I and II gave way to change, allowing women to work and eventually allowing them to vote. The feminist movement has made drastic progress since the war. Today women are seen as equal and have the right not only to vote, but to be educated. In 1977 the Canadian Human Rights Act ensured that women could no longer be discriminated based on their sex, race, religion or sexuality. The act specified that there must be “equal pay for

Female representation is impediment for Political matters and topics regarding women decided by the Federal Government. For example, in 2006, female Senators from all main parties united and supported a bill to change legislation on the abortion pill, removing the Health Minister Tony Abbott’s right to retain the veto on the introduction of the

The 1920s were a brutal time for Canada and most countries in the world. The Great War had just ended and soldiers were coming home to no work and minimal food. While the male soldiers were gone fighting the war, females took their place in factories, manufacturing war equipment and doing regular work that normally men would do. When the surviving soldiers came back, they were furious and wanted work to make money so most of the women were kicked out and replaced by the men. Women were obviously not happy about this and fought to make a change. One of the most notable feminists and successful female suffragists in Canadian history is Emily Murphy. She fought alongside four other feminists to create equal legal recognition as males and succeeded;

Canadian women had very hard lives. An average day consisted of housework and caring for ten to twelve children. There was always a high risk of death or disability during childbirth, or many newborns died at birth. Even their educational expectations were low after marriage because women didn't work outside, but in the 1900s, women made up 15 percent of undergraduates at universities, restricted from professions like law. But soon, a campaign for women's suffrage was born because of suffragists. A suffragist is a person who supports the rights of women. Most suffragists were middle-classed women who were devoted to social reform. They tried to persuade the government to franchise women's rights. Part of the suffragists were members of the Women's Christian

Overall, the representation of elected women now stands at about 25 % at each level of government, including on municipal councils, in provincial/territorial legislatures and at federal level. (Parliament of Canada, 2016) With this significant gender parity in politics, the paper examines the causes of the under-representation of Canadian women in politics. Findings are based on scholarly articles and their analyzed data on why do fewer Canadian women run for political office. When taken together, the results presented in this paper argues that (1) unwelcoming environment (women and family unfriendly working environment) with lack of support in political engagement, (2) women’s experience of exclusion, paternalism and systemic discrimination in political realm, and (3) media’s portrayal of women as to be marginalized by the society are what cause Canadian women to be under-represented in politics. Finally, the paper raises an interesting question from the topic of gender disparity into further discussion of the discrimination within discriminated group women other than those privileged ones who are likely to be selected in public

The Women’s Suffrage Movement The Women’s Suffrage Movement was an act by a society of women called suffragists who fought for the right to vote and run for office in all parts of the world. Unofficially, the movement actually started in 1848 when the first women’s rights convention was held in Niagara Falls. In Canada, the movement started in 1878 officially with Dr. Emily Howard Stowe being the leader, and ended in 1940 when Quebec finally gave women the right to vote. The movement was non-violent in Canada, more like a quiet demand, whereas in Britain it often turned violent and riots broke out constantly. The Women’s Suffrage Movement allowed women to be considered “persons” by law and provided them the right to vote and run for office.

Over the years, political power in Canada has been held by older men of Anglo-Celtic or Francophone heritage, rather than by females or members of Canada 's ethnic groups. In fact, the Canadian political sphere is considered a vertical mosaic because different ethnicities, languages, regional groupings, and religious groupings hold unequal status and power. Indeed, the representations of women and minority groups has been unproportioned with respect to their population. Therefore, when there are absences from the decision making process in representation of these aforementioned groups, there is a big concern in respect to the legitimacy of the political system. In fact, a third of Canadians express disappointment in respect to the way

Through in depth analysis of the Canadian Conservative Government, author Brianna Strumm showcases the overwhelming evidence of gender inequality occurring under Stephen Harper’s rule in her article Women in Harperland. This article raises questions in the areas of government, sexist discrimination in social infrastructure and the workplace, and the conservative views on women. I will analyze these questions and offer my own personal opinions on the content, amount of detail used, and whether or not the arguments made are beneficial to the article. Strumm takes a firm liberal stance on each issue presented, providing statistics and circumstances for each of her arguments. The strong evidence and even stronger point of view is crucial to the

Through the Contemporary Women’s Issues in Canada course, various topics related to gender inequality were discussed. Due to a long history, of sexism and misogyny in many aspects of Canadian society, outdated behaviours and thoughts have prevailed in many aspects of society. Three main topics that are central to achieving gender equality are gendered violence, gender roles and socialization, and child care.

Gender inequality has been a long part of Canada’s history with men being the dominant decision makers. Women have had to fight long hard battles and overcome numerous obstacles to prove themselves and demonstrate that they are equal to men and not inferior. Over the course of a century women have achieved suffrage and have become increasingly visible in the political and economic sectors. Despite all the achievements women have made barriers remain in effect leaving women at a social, economic and political disadvantage even in the twenty-first century. The primary obstacles in achieving gender equality are the noticeable absence of women in authoritative economic and political positions, unfair social stereotypes that are still

Our society has the belief that women have always been portrayed as weak, emotional, and powerless. Throughout this article by Tavia Grant, it shows how women do not get the same opportunities men receive. Statistically shown, women are still earning less money than men regardless to the amount of education they possess (Grant). Women are accepted to hold obligations regarding family tasks while the men do the providing in the family. The article shows the disadvantages women have in Canada compared to men, however, it also shows gender inequality and gender discrimination.

Today, Canada is known around the world as a cultural mosaic. As a nation it welcomes people of both sexes with all different beliefs, cultures, and religions. Creating a mature nation would require promoting equality of opportunity to all and giving help to those who were disadvantaged. However, Canada has not always been a welcoming and mature nation. In the past, women were not allowed to vote alongside men or run for political positions, due to the fact that they were not considered “persons”. As well, Aboriginal children were stipped from their homes, families, and identities so that they could assimilate all First Nations people. During the last century, women have gained more political rights, gained more respect from society, and

When Sylvia Bashevkin wrote “ the higher, the fewer” it was to indicate a pattern in women's political participation. The number of women in politics drops as one moves upward to the upper tiers of government, federal or provincial. The gap between the number of women involved in politics to the number of women in the country is still too wide. Over half the population is female and yet less than 25% were Members of Parliament in 2011. As of 2016 only 31% of senators were female. This gap highlights the need to continue to pursue the feminist movement.