Or that in 1920, the Women's Labour League was formed calling for equal pay, maternity care, and birth control?
Or that all Black, Japanese, Chinese, and South Asian Canadian women couldn't vote federally until 1949?
Did you know that in 2008, Shannon Koostachin, a 13-year-old girl from Attawapiskat First Nation, led a rally to Parliament Hill that galvanized the movement for safe schools for Indigenous communities across Canada?
These are only a few of the fascinating facts about Canadian women who have - for much longer than 150 years - helped to shape this country.
This book has 150 facts about Canadian women and is a quick read.
Women of many cultures, backgrounds and races have always been workers, inventors, caregivers, scholars, factory labourers and creators of visual and performing arts. They have advocated for social and judicial reform, fighting for change when it was needed and fighting for our rights when they were denied.
In addition to those facts listed above, here are some I found interesting ...
- Before 1909, the kidnapping of any woman over the age of 16, except for an heiress, was legal in Canada.
- In 1986, Sharon Wood was the first North American woman to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.
- In 1946, Viola Desmond, a black beautician in Nova Scotia, refused to vacate a seat in the "white section" of a movie theatre. She was arrested and convicted. It wasn't until 2010 that she was pardoned. In 2016, the public voted for her to appear on the 2018 $10 bill.
- In 1996, Ottawa's Alanis Morissette became the first Canadian artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Album of the year for Jagged Little Pill. She won three other Grammys that year.
- Before 1952, women could only work for the federal government if they were single. Once married, they either resigned or were fired.
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