Prohibition and the Vote

As the WCTU grew, it sought to take action on alcohol through legislative change. This goal intersected with the women’s suffrage movement. Women needed to be able to vote and participate in politics to campaign for temperance. In 1888, the WCTU became the first major organization in Canada to endorse women’s suffrage.

Mock Parliament

In 1896, the WCTU and the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association held a Mock Parliament down the street at the Allan Gardens Horticultural Pavilion. Suffragists played MPPs and debated whether men should receive the vote. They mockingly introduced regulations on men, such as imposing a 10 o’clock curfew unless they were accompanied by their wives. In the end, they voted against giving men the vote. At the turn of the 20th century, suffragists held mock parliaments across Canada. They were a form of counterculture that kept the suffrage movement alive and in the public eye.

Winning the Vote

Municipalities granted women the right to vote on different dates. In Toronto, women who met certain conditions could vote on municipal by-laws starting in 1882. Women in Ontario received the provincial vote in 1917, and the right to hold office two years later. Federally, the Wartime Elections act in 1917 gave some women the vote. This expanded the following year to include female British subjects over the age of 21 in Canada. Indigenous women across Canada and Chinese, Japanese, and South Asian women in certain provinces were excluded because of their race. It would not be until 1960 when all men and women, regardless of race, would have the right to vote.

*Sources:

David Wencer, “Historicist: Should Men Have the Vote?” Torontoist, September 12, 2015.

“Women’s Suffrage in Ontario,” Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Sheehan, Nancy M., “Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in Canada“. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published February 07, 2006; Last Edited October 12, 2016.