1
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 1914-1939: WOMEN
Summary of Status
by 1914
Women didn’t have the right to vote
OBSTACLES
“Nice women don’t want the
vote”(1914)
Notable Individual’s
Accomplishments
Nellie McClung: helped women earn the
right to vote in Manitoba(1917)
Notable Events/Changes
1917: Borden extended vote to
women whose
brothers/sons/husbands were
serving in military
1918: most women in Canada
granted the right to vote
few opportunities
for post sec. education
few careers outside teaching and
nursing(had to quit when married)
most jobs for married women were
unskilled labour
Jennie Trout: first woman to earn a
medical degree in Canada
Emily Stowe: first practicing doctor in
Canada
could not hold political offices
Jennie Trout/Emily Stowe: “Women
don’t belong in medical
school”(1871)
Women considered the “weaker sex”
Law, Medicine and Engineering “all
but closed to women”(Coyler et al
151)
Only 11 women had become lawyers
by 1919
(Coyler et al 151)
1919: Emily Murphy denied right to
become a senator: BNA(British North
America Act) declared her not a
“person”=the “Person’s Case”
First engineer: Elise MacGill(1927)
1914-18: Women needed in
factories when men went to
war(meant to be temporary)
1921: first woman to be elected
to House of Commons
1929: women deemed
“persons” under law
Agnes MacPhail: first woman elected to
House of Commons(our first female MP in
1921)
FAMOUS FIVE
Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung,
Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, Irene
Parlby win the Person’s Case(1929)
1930: first woman appointed to
Senate
(Cairine Wilson)
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SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 1914-1939: NATIVE/ABORIGINALS
STATUS AS OF 1918
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NATIVE/ABORIGINALS
Late 19 Century: First Nations & Indian Act
First Nations people granted reserves
First Nations people given “Indian Status” and eligible for benefits
benefits include gov’t funded health care and education
NEGATIVE ASPECTS of First Nations & Indian Act
-living conditions on reserves very poor; housing was primitive, no indoor
plumbing
Restricted Rights and Freedoms that other Canadians took for granted
 took away First Nations’ rights to govern themselves and right to vote
 restricted how they could earn a living
 required permission to leave reserve(i.e. no freedom of movement)
 prohibited them from drinking alcohol(even after Prohibition was lifted)
1919-1939
Treatment of First Nations WWI Veterans
-took until 2001 until the overall contributions of First Nations veterans
formally recognized
-denied the benefits given to other veterans(even the decorated First
Nations veterans like Francis Pegahmagabow)
-some First Nations veterans were forced to give up reserve land to nonAboriginal veterans
1920: creation of Residential schools for children aged 7-15
-attempt to assimilate the First Nations people, to destroy culture and
traditions
-took children from families and placed them in boarding schools far from
home
-denied right to speak their own language or religious beliefs(forced to
become Christian)
-often physically and verbally abused
1919: Fred Loft(a Mohawk Indian) created League of Indians of Canada
however:
1927: gov’t changed Indian Act to forbid First Nations people from forming
political organizations
-hence this league had no impact or influence as a result
3
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 1914-1939: WORKERS/LABOUR
STATUS AS OF 1918
1919-1939
Many elderly Cdns lived in poverty
1927: Old Age Pensions Act
A step forward BUT still limited to too few(e.g. had to be a British subject older than 70, lived in
Canada for over 20 years and NOT a status Indian)
-economic boom in the 20s brought about higher wages for factory workers and miners
-unions gained strength and helped with poor working conditions
WORKERS
1904: creation of Labour Day/official holiday for workers
Workers began to demand better working conditions(e.g.
only an 8 hour day)
By 1918: Membership in unions had grown but there was
rampant distrust of them—many Cdns feared that it would
bring about a Communist revolution
Many strikers were arrested and jailed
Returning veterans were given few supports: expected to
return to their civilian responsibilities
1919: huge influx of workers as veterans came home looking for work
March 1919 ONE BIG UNION
Believed that an alliance would increase bargaining power
Members would support one another if one group decided to strike
Supported a “general strike”(directed not at one employer rather against gov’t and employers as a
group)
May 1919: Winnipeg General Strike
 Within days over 30 000 workers were on strike
 Essentially shut down Winnipeg
Did not achieve all their goals BUT
 A Royal Commission found that strikers had engaged in peaceful protest and that the strike was not
a conspiracy to overthrow the gov’t
 Law soon required employers to recognize the right of workers to bargain collectively through a
union
1935: On to Ottawa Trek: brought to light the plight of the unemployed worker
Greater population sympathized with the workers
Highlighted gov’t apathy towards unemployed
Rise of CCF: growing power of influence of social and labour ideals which in turn led to
Liberal and Conservative parties began to adopt these socialistic platforms
-growing strength of political parties(SCP + CCF) which championed rights of workers(e.g. employment
insurance) and the emergence of influential leaders like J. S. Woodsworth who helped bring about
change:
Child Labour
Victimization of British Home children(indentured servants
for 7 years with no protection)→
rampant use of child labour in factories, mines; paid very
low wages→
1911: only 63% of children 14 years or younger in school→
Child Labour
1925: federal gov’t banned “juvenile immigrants” younger than 14
by 1929: most provinces passed laws banning child labour under age 14 in factories and mines
1931: 83% of 14 years and younger in school
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SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 1914-1939: IMMIGRANTS/VISIBLE MINORITIES
STATUS AS OF 1918
IMMIGRANTS
-during WWI, 800 000 immigrants declared “enemy
aliens”; sent to work camps
-immigrants from “enemy” countries not allowed
Asian Immigrants
-since 1885: demanded a “head tax” for all Chinese
immigrants
1907: BC would not allow people from India to vote, run
for office, or become lawyers, accountants, pharmacists
1908: Continuous Passage Act: no boat could arrive on
Cdn shores if it had
stopped at any other port along the way(impossible
for the two
month journey from India)
1914: Komagata Maru Incident
-kept a ship holding people from India, China and Japan in
Vancouver
harbour for two months(violation of Continuous
Passage Act)
-sent them back to India
1919-1939
Anglo-Conformity: many Cdns believed that immigrants should assimilate and abandon
culture
1919: Hutterites, Mennonites, Doukabhours viewed with suspicion because of their pacifist
beliefs
-viewed as “foreign”
- however, high demand for labour in 20s convinced gov’t to allow them
entrance(until the 30s when the economy crashed)
20s+30s
-discouraged Blacks from immigrating from the US
- Blacks were “unsuited to the climate in Canada”
-in NS, creation of separate schools for black students
-1921: Quebec Superior Court ruled that segregation was acceptable
in theatres
1923 British Settlement Act(promoted immigration of British workers)
-universities and training programs routinely discriminated by setting
higher standards for people whose names did not sound British
1923: Chinese Immigration Act barrs nearly all Chinese immigrants
-meant that Cdn-Chinese workers couldn’t bring their families over
-fewer than 50 Chinese immigrants allowed between 1923-47
-during depression, relief payments for those of Chinese heritage 50%
lower than other Cdns
1939: the Saint Louis arrived carrying over 900 Jews seeking refuge from German
persecution
-sent back to Germany; more than half were killed by Nazis upon their return