Sisters in the Struggle
In 1916, when this photo was taken, women did not have the right to vote in Canada. In the striped dress at the centre is Nellie McClung, a leading figure of the suffragette movement that fought for women’s voting rights. To her left is Emmeline Pankhurst, a British suffragette.

Women Gain the Vote
Women property owners had sometimes voted before Confederation, but thereafter were legally excluded from voting. In the early 1900s, the women’s suffrage movement emerged to change this. The “suffragists” campaigned relentlessly with petitions, lectures and various demonstrations. Undeterred by hostile public opinion and politicians, they enlisted the help of influential organizations and managed to have bills introduced in provincial legislatures to extend voting rights to women. When the bills were defeated, they had them reintroduced over and over until they were successful. In 1916, Manitoba was the first province to extend the vote to women. By 1918, women had the same right as men to vote in federal elections.