Nellie McClung led the fight for the women's vote in Canada in the early 1900s. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada, PA-030212, Nellie McClung)

"Placing women on ... political equality with men would cause domestic strife." said ... The majority of women are emotional, and if given the franchise would be a menace rather than an aid," Manitoba Premier Sir Rodmond Roblin in 1914.

The view was typical among men at the time and galvanized women to act. Reformers across the country - Nellie McClung in Manitoba, Marie Gérin-Lajoie in Quebec and Ontarios Emily Howard Stowe - struggled to bring attention to their cause. They gathered signatures on petitions and spoke to womens groups across the country.

McClung was a skilful speaker and used wit and irony to make her point.

"Our worthy opponents will emphasize the fact that women are the weaker vessel. Well I should think that a woman who cooks for men, washes and bakes and scrubs and sews for her family could stand the extra strain of marking a ballot every four years."

Canadas reformers maintained a peaceful approach to change. In other parts of the world, women had sometimes resorted to militant acts to promote their cause. In England, 60 people were arrested and dozens injured when suffragettes (women seeking the vote) stormed Parliament.

In Canada, the Womens Christian Temperance Union was a leading voice in the battle for the vote. The Temperance Union and other womens groups wanted to bring about social reforms such as the ban of alcohol. Women realized they needed the vote to influence politicians on these issues.

	By 1914, the women's vote movement was gaining momentum, but Canada still lagged behind countries such as Australia, New Zealand and parts of the United States where women had already earned the vote. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada)

A highlight for the women reformers in Manitoba was the staging of a play in 1914 called "A Womens Parliament." McClung played a female premier in a make-believe country where men want the vote.

McClung's character argued, "It's hard enough to keep them at home now ... Politics unsettle men and unsettled men means unsettled bills, broken furniture, broken vows, and divorce ... There is no use giving men the vote ... Man has a higher destiny than politics."

A Womens Parliament was a huge success, playing to sold out audiences.

By 1914, the movement was gaining momentum but Canada still lagged behind countries such as Australia, New Zealand and parts of the United States where women had already earned the vote.

By this time, a large number of Canadian men including politicians supported the right for women to vote but the movement still needed a breakthrough.

The turning point came in Manitoba, McClungs home province. Opposition leader Liberal T.C. Norris agreed to give women the vote if he became Premier in the 1915 election. Norris won.

On January 28^th 1916, the women of Manitoba became the first in the country to win the right to vote in provincial election and to hold elective office.

Finally the Womens Franchise Act was passed in 1918 permitting all women citizens to vote in federal elections.