Mary Ellen Spear Smith (October 11, 1863 – May 3, 1933) was a politician in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada. She was the first female

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria. Members are elected from provincial ...

,"Canada 150: Mary Ellen Smith was first woman elected to B.C. legislature"
''Vancouver Sun'', Stephen Hume, March 8, 2017 and both the first female

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

minister and the first female

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

.Cathy Converse.
Mainstays: Women who Shaped BC
'. TouchWood Editions; 1998. . p. 119–120.
Sterilized by the State: Eugenics, Race, and the Population Scare in Twentieth-Century North America
'. Cambridge University Press; 26 August 2013. . p. 99–.

Early life

Smith was born Mary Ellen Spear in

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Her mother was Mary Spear and father, Richard Spear, was a copper

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting ...

. She became a school teacher before marrying Ralph Smith, a widower, coal miner and unionist, in 1883. The couple had five children together, one daughter and four sons. She moved with him to British Columbia in the early 1891 shortly after their marriage, settling first in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "Hub City," which was ...

and then moving to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

in 1911.

Career

She was an activist as a member of the Suffrage League of Canada, member of the Dominion Board of Mental Hygiene, president of the Women's Canadian Club and of the Women's Forum, regent of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, and an executive member of the

Canadian Red Cross The Canadian Red Cross Society () She founded the "Laurier Liberal Club", and was an active

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

. Her husband, Ralph Smith, was a moderate

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

leader. He was elected to the BC legislature in 1898. He was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commo ...

in the 1900 federal election. He returned to the BC legislature, and became British Columbia's Minister of Finance in 1916. Mary Ellen Smith helped her husband's political career by campaigning for him and making speeches on his behalf when he was unavailable.Jan Peterson.
Harbour City: Nanaimo in Transition, 1920-1967
'. Heritage House Publishing Co; 2006. . p. 38–. Ralph Smith died in February 1917, and Mary Ellen Smith ran to succeed him as

(MLA) for

in a January 1918

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

. She ran as an "Independent Liberal" on the slogan "Women and children first". She was elected by a wide margin, becoming the first woman in the BC Legislature. She said in a speech in the Legislature that "Not only did the women of my fair city stand behind me... but the men were there, too." She was re-elected as a Liberal candidate in the

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

and 1924 general elections. As a legislator, she introduced the Minimum Wage Act of 1918, a law establishing a

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

for women of $12.77 per week. Smith helped enact laws establishing juvenile courts, allowing women to sit as judges, and passing laws protecting women in the workplace."Mary Ellen Smith"
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

Irene Howard.
The Struggle for Social Justice in British Columbia: Helena Gutteridge, the Unknown Reformer
'. UBC Press; 1 November 2011. . p. 115–.
Their own history: women's contribution to the labour movement of British Columbia
'. United Fishermen & Allied Workers Union/CAW Seniors Club; 2002. p. 53. She also worked to pass the Mothers' Pension Act in 1924, later renamed the Mothers' Allowances Act in 1937. This act provided divorced, deserted or widowed wives with guaranteed monthly income to raise children under the age of sixteen. Smith also supported anti-Asian and eugenicist politics in British Columbia, including the Women and Girls’ Protection Act of 1923, which restricted their employment by Asians. She also advocated the sterilization of the feeble-minded lest their reproduction contribute to ‘race suicide’.
The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics
'. Oxford University Press, USA; 24 September 2010. . p. 531–. She accepted the racial science of her day that justified legislation efforts to "protect our own nglo-Canadianrace." (as cited in Kerwin, 1999, p. 95). By embracing racism and eugenics within her feminism, Smith reflected the ideals of feminists of her era.Susan McNicoll.
British Columbia Murders: Notorious Cases and Unsolved Mysteries
'. Heritage House; 1 February 2011. . p. 110–. She joined the cabinet of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

John Oliver in 1921 as

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

,R. Kenneth Carty.
Politics, Policy, and Government in British Columbia
'. UBC Press; 1996. . p. 103–. but resigned after eight months as she felt that the rules of cabinet solidarity restricted her independence and she was never assigned to a dedicated portfolio. In February 1928, she served as Acting

of the Legislative Assembly, the first woman to hold the position of Speaker in the British Empire. She was defeated in the 1928 election that brought down the Liberal government. In 1929, she was appointed Canada's delegate to the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

conference in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

. She served as president of the BC Liberal Party in the early 1930s until her death due to a stroke in 1933 at the age of 72.

Legacy

Smith's work to promote the rights of settler women and girls has been commemorated in feminist literature and in the public after her death, but her links to eugenics and anti-Asian policies were largely downplayed until recent decades. In 2007, Smith was named a National Historic Person by the government of Canada. In Nanaimo the street Mary Ellen Drive, located between Dover Bay Road and the

Island Highway The Island Highway is actually a series of highways that follows much of the eastern coastline of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. While the Island Highway has no officially designated starting point, it is understood to begin at ...

, is named in her honour. Mary Ellen Smith is also commemorated by the

recognizing her as the first female MLA in British Columbia, the first female to be appointed a minister without portfolio in the British Empire, and as a campaigner for women's rights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mary Ellen British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Canadian feminists 1861 births 1933 deaths Women MLAs in British Columbia Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 20th-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century Canadian politicians English emigrants to Canada