Women's Liberal Club and Their Fight for the Vote on PEI

In 1916, Elsie Inman and Margaret Rogers Stewart founded the Women's Liberal Club when they, and 80 other women, came together with the belief that it was time PEI women had the right to vote.

The First World War gave women with husbands or close relatives fighting on the front or killed in action the right to vote in federal elections (in 1917). This was mainly done as a ploy to enact conscription as the government believed these women would want to ensure their male relatives had re-enforcement's on the front. One year later, in 1918, this was extended to women all over Canada (there were restrictions. Indigenous women, for example, were still not allowed to vote). Before the war, Island women made few actual attempts for enfranchisement. They focused on turning more men and women to their side rather than political action. They believed converting men to their side would be key in their fight. 

This may not have been the best method.

In April 1918, John A. Dewar, a Liberal, moved that the right to vote be extended to women as a recognition of their work in the war effort in the PEI Legislature. The motion passed but no bill was ever created as a result. Premier A.E. Arsenault, a Conservative, claimed in his memoir that when pushed on the issue, J.H. Bell, the Liberal leader, admitted that he had only spoken to one woman and she claimed she could only speak on behalf of herself. It is important to note that Arsenault didn't support extending suffrage to women.

The Charlottetown Examiner even claimed,

"Can women perform aright the multifarious duties of the home, follow fashions closely, give time to social matters, take a lively interest in current news and gossip, etc., and also attend closely to matters and questions of political importance?"

There are many issues with this statement:

1. It makes it sound like women did little other than gossip, take care of their homes, and be social. But, let's state facts - many women were already working (farms, nurses, teachers, factories, etc) and this statement discredits that work.

2. Like men, all women are different and some may have no interest in the things listed and others may be very politically savvy.

3. The statement comes from a place of privilege - there is an assumption written into it that women are too "ditzy" (for lack of a better term) to vote and that they only care about the home and gossip. If you were a working woman, and many were, this statement was not very relevant to you.

4. A future blog post will focus on how this rhetoric changed once women had the right to vote.

In 1919, Bell stated that women should have the right to vote and he made it an important cornerstone of his next run for the Premier's Office. He had several reasons:

1. It was an issue he had been consistent on as he had tabled resolution to extend suffrage in the 1890's

2. Women had voted in the last federal election,

3. Women had helped win the war - nurses served overseas and were highly respected by soldiers and they proved they could work outside the home and still run their homes,

4. It would expand their "subjects of conversation and study" and

5. Women's advice on morals, health, and family matters would benefit the public.

Once elected, though, Bell didn't extend the right to vote. He was waiting for women to begin to really push the issue. He wanted it to have some more momentum. According to Inman, the members of the Women's Liberal Club began talking about suffrage to any women they came into contact with.

In 1921, references to suffrage begin to become more common in the Premier's papers. In March, 1921, he wrote to Mrs H.L.B. McArthur, asking her to "undertake some sort of propaganda through your county - something to demonstrate to the Government that women actually desire the vote. The Government is anxious to give women the vote if they so desire, but do not want to appear to thrust it upon them."

His request appears to have worked because in 1922, three petitions were presented by the Liberal government in support of suffrage. One petition was from the Women's Liberal Club, one by an unaffiliated group of women, and one from the Women's Institute. The petitions from the first two groups focused mainly on Charlottetown and Summerside. The petition by the Women's Institute had 300 signatures from all over the province!

So in 1922, women received the right to vote!

But, not everyone was happy. Some women were scared of how their husbands would react if they saw or heard they had voted. The following is a story told by Inman:

"Most of the women were afraid of their husbands. The majority of husbands refused to let them vote. Well, I remember taking a woman - she said she'd vote, but she was scared to vote because her husband threatened her if he saw he at the poll. She was anxious to vote and I said, "Would he know you if you were dressed up in other clothes?" Well, she didn't think he would, so I went home and she was about my size. We wore veils in those days, so I took my clothes and coat and put the veil on her and took her to vote. . . I went to the door to get another woman to vote and her husband met me and said, "Get out of here, trying to lead my wife astray, you should be ashamed of this. You're from a nice family, and have a good husband, you should be ashamed of yourself."

Considering Inman later became the first female PEI Senator I am going to assume she was not ashamed. Personally, I am so thankful we have moved beyond this opinion, in general, in Canada. Some people still have that view of women participating in politics - just ask some of the women who have run for office. I was at an event last year, the Organize to Lead Provincial Symposium, where a woman who ran for the Green Party continued to get threats once the election was over. And she hadn't even won that seat! She did win her seat in the last election.

Thankfully, not all husbands were like this. Some wanted their wives to vote and ensured they made it to the polls.

But, think about what this statement says about the opinions these husbands had of their wives. To them, they  may think they were protecting their wives from the dirty nature of politics or something to that nature. But, on the other hand, it could also easily be argued that they believed women couldn't handle politics - code for they thought they were too naive and, to be blunt, stupid.


Sorry about the lack of pictures! I have altered the theme and still figuring out what settings I like. Please let me know if you like the new look.

And I will be sharing big news in two weeks so tune in!!!

Sources:

Baldwin, D. Land of the Red Soil: A Popular History of Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown" Ragweed Press, 2000.

MacDonald, E. If You're Stronghearted: Prince Edward Island in the Twentieth Century. Chalottetown: Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation, 2000.