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Men Who Have Fought for the Rights of Women in Canada

Gender equality fight has been on the rise; this is evident through the various

campaigns initiated by men to ensure gender equality. In A Room of Ones Own by

Virginia Wolf, Shakespeares sister is used as a symbol to represent the gender roles evident

in different societies. She represents the women in traditional societies who are delegated

traditional roles that limit their participation in other societal activities like literacy and

development of career. Her centre role in the play is to point out the position of women when

they lack intellectual and literary abilities compared to men in different societies. The

restrictions on women in men dominated society denied the women the chance to explore

their literacy skills; the Elizabethan society was based on denial of freedom and privacy.

Therefore, most women lacked the opportunity to pursue their interest; the women lack

privacy just as illustrated by the metaphorical title of a room of their privacy. Lester Bowels,

Canadas prime minister also has contributed to ensuring gender equality in the Canada; the

prime minister commissioned the both educational and training opportunities for women.

Lester Bowels Pearson has contributed largely to gender equality in Canada by

commissioning The Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada (1967), whose

recommendations paved the way for more educational training opportunities for women and

prohibition of gender-based discrimination in the job market (Williams 725).

The commission founded by Lester Bowels was one of the most influential

commissions in history. Lester Bowels (23 April 1897-27 December 1972), a scholar and a

diplomat initiated both social and political reforms during his era as the 14th prime minister
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of Canada. These changes helped in reinforcing the Canadian women rights that were

acceptable in the Canadian society. The prime minister is also infamously known for his role

in the commissioning of The Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada which

marks the fight for gender equality in Canada (Pearson, 500). The committee was solely

charged with the responsibility of examining the status of women in Canada regarding the

accessibility to learning systems or education, career opportunities, and salary earnings

compared to men. The sole role of the commission was to ensure that the women have equal

access to opportunities and resources as men to ensure equality in the society. Therefore, the

Commission wanted to establish a society where the women could be treated equally as men

in the same job. Moreover, the Commission advocated for maternity leaves and incentives for

women (Williams 725).

The commission became a turning point in introducing changes for women. According

to the commission; women were discriminated in all aspects of the society and was formed to

initiate change. Most women were discriminated regarding the job market, education and in

politics. According to statistics, in 1970, the number of women holding managerial positions

in Canada was less than 4%. Moreover, the various provinces in Canada were faced with a

challenge to promote gender equity (Wolff 56). Most Canadian provinces had embraced the

need for equal opportunities and pay for women by adopting the equal pay laws that require

firms and organizations to increase womens earnings which were perceived to be lower than

the earnings of men under the same job group. The commission also realized that women

were not only discriminated in equal pay and opportunities in the job market but also in

politics. Women were unequally represented in various political positions; the number of

women in the Senate was low which meant that the women were not treated like the men.

The marginalization of women in politics has denied them their freedom of expression

because their opinions cannot be effectively represented (Lyle 323).

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Because the commission wanted to introduce changes, it made a lot of

recommendations that had a long lasting effect. The Commission flagged by the prime

minister initiated several changes in Canada by introducing new recommendations to ensure

equality. The recommendations by the commission stirred great improvements socially,

economically and politically, this uplifted the status of women in Canada. The commission

became successful in creating equality and freedom for women in Canada, especially in the

public sphere, thereby, eliminating the male dominated societies and replacing it with a well-

balanced society that is based on equality (Pearson, 343). Furthermore, the commission also

recommended the abolition of marital status as a ground for consideration during

employment; this helped reduce the employment discrimination tremendously. Among the

most outstanding achievements of the commission is the recommendation that the

government should initiate training and educational opportunities to the women in Canada

(Wolf 271). Since the recommendation, there has been a remarkable increase in the number

of women workforce in Canada. The recommendation that the government should undertake

women training to enable them to access greater opportunities has led to the introduction of

new career courses that have improved their ability to compete with men in the job market

effectively. Moreover, the removal of marital status as a criterion in job employment has

increased employment opportunities for both women and men by levelling the ground. The

commission also improved women representation in the government by encouraging the

government to include women in the national positions in the government; this has led to the

appointment of women to the Senate and other positions in the government. Women

representation has increased significantly, and the society became characterized by equity

between men and females. The political sphere in Canada has also been characterized by the

inclusion of women to represent the marginalized women group, this has made Canada a

country that values gender equality in all aspects of the society (Lyle 247).
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The commission has been important in enhancing equity. Lester Bowels contribution to

ensuring there is gender equality is highly recognizable, the policies and reforms the

commission introduced have helped to create a society that values both genders in all aspects,

Canada has experienced a rise in female political representatives because of the reforms the

Commission introduced (Wolff 54). Canada is one of the countries that have equitable gender

representation in the world in the political sphere. The commission was at the spearhead in

facilitating equity, the commissions through its representatives helped push for changes in the

political and economic spheres. Canada became a country that valued equity with each

gender having equal representation and access to services and opportunities. The commission

became successful, thereby, symbolizing the role of men in fighting for the inclusion of

women in various areas or platforms in the society (Lyle 259).

Conclusion

Lester bowels contribution to ensuring equity in the society for both genders especially

the women is widely recognized, the commission he formed during his reign as a prime

minister initiated political, economic and social reforms that have led to equity in all aspects

of the society. Women are given equal opportunities in the job market, politic and in

accessing career opportunities. The commission has allowed for gender equality in the

various spheres of the society including the political and economic sphere, women are now

well represented in the political positions with Canada being one of the most gender equitable

countries. Moreover, women are now able to compete with men in the job market for equal

opportunities and pay because of the commission recommendations.

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Works Cited

Lyle, Cleverdon. Woman suffrage movement in Canada. Toronto : University of Toronto

Press, 1974. Print.

Pearson, Lester. Mike : the memoirs of the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson. Toronto :

University of Toronto Press, 1972. Print.

Williams, Toni. Re-forming "women's" truth: a critique of the report of the Royal

Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. Ottawa Law Review, vol. 22. no. 3

(1990), p. 725.

Wolf, Virginia. Shakespeares Sister. A Room of Ones Own. New York: Harcourt, 1929.

Print

Wolff, Alice. The face of globalization: women working poor in Canada. Canadian

Woman Studies, vol. 20, no. 3(2000)