It's Not Just A Right, It's A Responsibility

“Nellie McClung is probably spinning in her grave.” The woman said as she shook her head in dismay. The younger woman standing in front of her stared back blankly; she was completely clueless as to why the other woman was so offended, and had absolutely no idea who this Nellie McClung was. All she had said was that she didn’t go out and vote in the municipal election because it was too cold and she had had a long day, and that her vote wouldn’t count anyway; she was, after all, only one person.

“Just imagine if Nellie had said that.” The woman looked at me, and I nodded in agreement.

So why don’t we do that? Let’s imagine that Nellie McClung felt too cold and tired and couldn’t be bothered to fight for the rights of Canadian women; let’s imagine that she turned a blind eye to the pathetic conditions that faced women who were forced to work in sweatshops to make ends meet. Let’s also try to imagine what our lives would be like had she not stood up and fought on behalf of every Canadian woman for the right to be recognized as human beings and for the right to vote. We take these rights for granted and we forget that ninety years ago the Canadian government did recognize women as people; we had no voice and no independence, but that changed when Nellie McClung began to speak for us.

It makes me so angry that Nellie seems to have been forgotten by so many and that her achievements and sacrifices aren’t being recognized and taught. I can clearly remember my sixth grade social studies teacher, an elderly lady by the name of Mrs. Moriarty, telling us with great passion about the political life of Mrs. McClung and her Suffragettes, and of how she took on the Premier of Manitoba and then the entire Canadian government, and that she did it with the utmost grace and determination. Here was a woman who fought for medical and dental care for school children, property rights for married women, safety measures in the workplace, Mother’s Allowances, and, of course, a woman’s right to vote.

So let me just reiterate this: in 1916 the Canadian government did not see women as people; we were unable to vote or hold office, in fact we had no rights at all. Can you imagine what that would be like, knowing and experiencing the freedom that we have today? Imagine always having to leave every financial decision to your husband because the law won’t allow you to sign your name on a document; imagine having to work your fingers to the bone in a menial job because you were considered persona non gratia, and finally, think of having to tell your daughter that she will have to rely on a man to make all her decisions for her because she will never have a voice of her own. You may think I’m being over dramatic but these situations were very real to women living in the early twentieth century, and some of these situations still happen on a regular basis. Just because things have improved since Nellie’s time doesn’t mean that we have won the fight for equality.

Nellie used her time on this earth to better the lives of women in this country; she was spat at, verbally abused and threatened, and yet she never gave up, and for that every woman in Canada should be grateful to her. It is only because of the dogged determination of Nellie and the members of her party that the Manitoba government was defeated and women were given the right to vote in that province in 1916. It was in 1927 that Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards took on the big boys in Ottawa and forced them to recognize women as individual human beings by amending Section 24 of the British North America Act.

Women such as Nellie McClung need to be recognized and cherished, and their lives should be held as examples to future generations. Nellie would indeed spin in her grave if she knew that we were taking the right to vote for granted; that we were not standing up and voicing our opinions…that we instead went home, put our feet up and let others decide for us. We owe it to her to continue the fight, to not become complacent, and to always challenge those who would deny us the right to live a better life.