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The Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a Canadian Royal Commission that examined the
status of women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
and recommended steps that might be taken by the
federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...
to ensure equal opportunities with men and women in all aspects of Canadian society. The Commission commenced on 16 February 1967 as an initiative of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Public sessions were conducted the following year to accept public comment for the Commission to consider as it formulated its recommendations.
Florence Bird Florence Bayard Bird, (January 15, 1908 – July 18, 1998) was a Canadian broadcaster, journalist, and Senator. She is best known for her work as chairwoman of Royal Commission on the Status of Women. Born Florence Rhein in Philadelphia, P ...
was the Commission's chair. In Canada, 32 women’s groups had formed. As a result, Pearson created the Royal Commission on the Status of Women to ensure equality for women, and was the first Commission to be chaired by women. The Commission wrote reports to the government about issues regarding pay, child care, birth control and education. The government responded to these issues by creating the Status of Women in 1971 to inform the public about these issues.


History of Commission

In the mid-1960s, activist
Laura Sabia Laura Sabia, (September 18, 1916 – October 17, 1996) was a Canadian social activist and feminist. Born Laura Villela in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of Italian immigrants, she played an important part, in the National Chair of the Comm ...
led a coalition of 32 Canadian women's groups in carrying out a national campaign demanding action against
gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...
in society. The coalition formed the national Committee for the Equality of Women (CEW) in 1966, with Sabia as chair, and asked the government to establish a formal royal commission. If their demands were to go unmet, CEW promised that "two million women would march on
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...
" in protest. In 1967, in response to the rising public pressure, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson set up the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada with the mandate to "inquire into and report on the status of women in Canada, and to make specific recommendations to the federal government to ensure equality for women in all aspects of society."


Commissioners

Florence Bird Florence Bayard Bird, (January 15, 1908 – July 18, 1998) was a Canadian broadcaster, journalist, and Senator. She is best known for her work as chairwoman of Royal Commission on the Status of Women. Born Florence Rhein in Philadelphia, P ...
, a journalist and broadcaster from Ottawa, was appointed chairperson of the Commission. This marked the first time a Royal Commission of inquiry had been chaired by a woman. Bird was associated with the
Canadian Senate The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the Br ...
in 1978 and was part of the Royal Commission in 1967. Since she was part of the Royal Commission’s chair, she was given thousands of letters from public hearings concerning women’s rights. The arguments in the letters from common people mostly stated that men and women were seen as equal, but they were not in many ways. The main argument Bird covered was inequality pay. Women were earning half of what men earned for the same job. Bird’s commission also fought for their right to abortion and birth control access.
Elsie MacGill Elsie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Elsie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lily Elsie (1886–1952), English actress and singer born Elsie Hodder * Robert Elsie (1950–2017), Canadian expert in Albanian ...
(1905 – 1980) was an active feminist and the first female aeronautical engineer. During the Second World War, she had worked as chief aeronautical engineer for Canadian Car & Foundry and oversaw the mass production of
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...
fighter planes, which led media to give her the nickname “Queen of the Hurricanes.” MacGill had grown up with a keen interest in women's rights: her mother had broken ground as one of the first female judges in Canada, while her maternal grandmother had been a
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
. Before joining the Commission, MacGill had served as national president of the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, and she would go on to become noted as a vocal critic of discrimination against women in engineering. Because of her workforce experience, she advocated for
women in the workforce Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in ...
. MacGill was heavily involved with women being paid for maternity leave. As a
liberal feminist Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy. It is often considered culturally ...
, MacGill believed that women should also have full control over their bodies, and should have the right to abort, much like Bird. Lola M. Lange was from Claresholm, Alberta, and had a background in farming and community activism. Jeanne Lapointe was a literature professor at
Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...
. She had previous commissioner experience as part of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Education in the Province of Quebec. After her work with the Commission, she would go on to make significant academic contributions to psychoanalytic literary analysis and
feminist analysis Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
.
Doris Ogilvie Doris Ogilvie (1919–2012) was a Canadian judge and activist. A graduate in law from the University of New Brunswick, Ogilvie was a judge in both the juvenile and provincial court systems. She chaired the Canadian Commission of the Intern ...
was a
juvenile court A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern lega ...
judge from
Fredericton, New Brunswick Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...
. She would later go on to chair the Canadian Commission of the International Year of the Child.
Jacques Henripin Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ove ...
was a professor of
demography Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...
at
Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...
, noted for his key contributions to the field of study in Canada. After his time on the Commission, he would go on to work at
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...
and serve as a council member for the Social and Humanity Research Council of Canada, before receiving the Order of Canada in 1988.
John Peters Humphrey John Peters Humphrey (April 30, 1905 – March 14, 1995) was a Canadian legal scholar, jurist, and human rights advocate. He is most famous as the principal author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Childhood, ...
was a law professor at
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...
, known for having drafted the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
during the 1940s. (appointed following Gordon's resignation)


Results

Azilda Lapierre Marchand prepared a report on behalf of the Women's Association for Education and Social Action (french: L'Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale, ''AFÉAS'') evaluating the invisibility of women's work, and presented the findings to the Commission. She argued that their unpaid labor as homemakers and workers in family enterprises was undervalued and ignored by society. The Commission discovered that: *in 1970 only 3.9% of managers were women; *although 8 out of 10 provinces had equal-pay laws, women were still paid less than men for doing the same work; and *two thirds of people that were on
welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
were women In 1970, a report came out with 167 recommendations to ensure that men and women had equal opportunities. Some recommendations were: *"gender" and "marital status" be prohibited as grounds for
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...
by employers *training programs offered by the federal government be made more open to women *the federal government name more women judges to all courts within its jurisdiction *more qualified women from each province be appointed to the Senate as seats became vacant, until a more equitable balance between men and women were achieved *employed women be granted eighteen weeks of unemployment benefits for
maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...
. *birth control *pensions *day care *educational opportunities for women As a result, the Commission helped establish an agenda of reform for women's-rights groups in the 1970s.


See also

*
Women's rights in Canada The history of feminism in Canada has been a gradual struggle aimed at establishing equal rights. The history of Canadian feminism, like modern Western feminism in other countries, has been divided by scholars into four "waves", each describing a ...
*
Department for Women and Gender Equality Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE; french: Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada (FEGC)), known as Status of Women Canada from 1976 to 2018, is a department of the Government of Canada. Previously an agency under the Department of Canadian H ...


References

* Newman, Garfield. Canada: A Nation Unfolding. Ontario. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 2000.


External links


CBC Archives: Equality First: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women
{{authority control
Status_of_Women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
Federal departments and agencies of Canada Women's organizations based in Canada Women's rights in Canada Lester B. Pearson