Joan Sangster

Sangster writes an overview history of the women's suffrage movement in Canada, highlighting its regional nature and expanding it beyond the well-known white, middle-upper class women who have dominated the narrative like Nellie McClung and Emily Murphy (although they get their due as well). Sangster explores efforts to get the vote from 1840 through to the long overdue provision of the vote to indigenous peoples in 1960. In between she highlights the differing struggles women faced in the Maritimes, BC, the Prairies, Ontario, and Quebec. She also explores suffragist leaders from the labour and socialist movements whose political views focused on equality for all (to a lesser or greater extent) rather than more conservative suffragists who looked to preserve the power of the white ruling class.

Beyond knowing that my own province extended the vote to women in 1918 and some details about the Famous Five and the "Persons" case, my knowledge of the suffragist movement in Canada was severely lacking. While the writing in this book is a little more on the academic than generalist side of the line, it made for fascinating reading. Seeing some of the horrifyingly racist stances that both governments and advocacy groups took were disheartening (in particular learning that in addition to all of her excellent work for women's suffrage that Nellie McClung was also in favour of eugenics was disappointing) but an important element in exploring what earning the vote for women entailed. It was also worth reading to see Sangster questioning the narrative that women's work during WWI was the impetus that proved to men in government that they were worthy of the vote. An enlightening first volume and I now have plans to read the rest of the works in this series that takes more concentrated focus on suffrage movements in the major regions of Canada as well as amongst particular cultural groups. Recommended for those with an interest in Canadian women's history and the suffrage movement.… (meer)