Artifact #5: First World War and Women

Citation: Library and Archives Canada/C-006859. Anti-conscription rally in Victoria Square, Montréal, Quebec on May 24th, 1917. , www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/suffrage.

William Rider, Nursing Sisters at a Canadian hospital voting in the Canadian federal election, France, December 1917. Canada. Department of National Defence. Library and Archives Canada, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/suffrage

Label:

The women's Suffrage movement was seeing a progressive increase due to growing industrialization and urbanization. But as the First World War hit, the movement took a halt, as many women were looking to support war efforts. Women became biennial to become nurses, workers, and caretakers while conscription occurred and husbands were sent away. The government wished both to acknowledge women’s contribution to the war effort and to appeal to future female voters by extending the franchise. This was a huge win in the fight for women's suffrage as then The Voters Act and Wartime Elections Act of 1917, the federal voting right was extended to nursing sisters and to close female relatives of military men. Finally giving a sense of freedom and democracy. However, this also caused tension amongst suffragists, as women of colour and those who were against conscription and war were left out of having the right to vote or be seen as people still. This was a big win for women, but still much had to be done.

Bibliography:

Strong-Boag, Veronica. “Women’s Suffrage in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 21 June 2016, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/suffrage.

De Bruin, Tabitha, et al. “Canadian Women and War.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 7 Feb. 2006, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/women-and-war.