Suffragists

Activists for women’s suffrage began organizing in Canada in the 1870s – first in Ontario, particularly under the leadership of Emily Howard Jennings (Stowe), and then in the other provinces. Local, provincial, and national associations, such as the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association (1889), were established and carried out various actions (for example, drawing up petitions, writing newspaper articles, and giving talks). Predominantly educated middle-class women, Canadian suffragists exchanged ideas, arguments, and strategies with their counterparts abroad, but unlike their American and British sisters, they rarely employed civil disobedience and public outcry.