By MARY KARDASH

Women and men marking
International Women’s Day
Tight from the beginning of its
Origin’ in 1910 placed high the
question of women participating
aS equal citizens in the govern-
ment of their countries. This
Question is still high on the
48enda for Canadian women to-
day,

The struggle for rights of
Women as’ citizens in Manitoba
gan in earnest with the pres-
€ntation of a petition by the

Omen’s Christian Temperance
on in 1893 to the Legislature
Banding “the rights of citi-
cr not be denied on account
. a The defeated petition
ied Spurred the women in the
fe Tagette movement to more
in €rmined efforts in the ensu-
ne years until victory was won
k 1916’ when Manitoba women
€came the first in Canada to
ave won the right to vote in
pevincial elections. This suc-
peu ‘Struggle was led by the

€rgetic, popular feminist and
Writer Nellie McClung, Lillian
: _ Thomas and others who re-
€lved wide support from the
Population of Manitoba. In 1920

€ first woman was elected to
€ legislature. She was Mrs.
ah Rogers of Winnipeg, who
i 4lned her seat until her re-
Tement in 1932.

All-Male Legislation
However, as with many other

Provincial" legislatures, Mani-

ie has often had not one
le woman representative in
or Past few decades. In the last
°Vincial election of June, 1973,
en Ough a dozen or more
Se Candidates from all poli-
ar Parties were in the field,
hoe were elected. In fact the
8 Sitting Conservative Party
apain MLA was defeated. So,
i the Manitoba legislature
§ all-male.
Since the late 1960's when
Staty Oyal Commission on the
the S of Women opened wide

form uestion of the various
one of discrimination against
lar] €n in Canada and particu-

Y in the public field, the
t of women’s participation

Matte

his government:

dian average).

seniority.

ployment.

NDP premier report what government
has done for women

In a recent meeting with MACSW representatives, Pre-
mier Schreyer of Manitoba placed the following record of

@ Established a Women’s Bureau of the Department of
Labor. Raised the minimum wage which directly affects
women who predominate in lowest paying jobs.

@ Introduced changes to Labor Code which makes it
easier for workers to organize. Women workers stand to
gain as only 17°/p of them are organized into unions. (Cana-

@ Maternity leave legislation passed which removed dis-
crimination against pregnant women and their rights of

®@ Equal Pay Act strengthened to remove existing mal-
practices by employers against women. :
® Human Rights Commission established which reviewed
many complaints from women about discrimination in em-

in politics has received re-
newed and more extensive at-
tention by various women’s
groups. Leading among them is
the Manitoba Action Committee
on the Status of Women
(MACSW).

Traditional Prejudices

Manitoba women have been
urged at conferences, seminars,

public meetings to become more -

active in politics at all levels of
government. The old-line parties
as well as the NDP have come
under criticism from their own
adherents for being too slow in
overcoming traditional prejud-
ices towards women, especially
being seriously considered as
candidates. It was pointed out
that women were excluded from
the decision and policy making
spheres of their parties, and
only regarded as fund-raising,
vote-getting reserves. The ex-

ception has been the Communist °

Party of Canada, which has al-
ways. encouraged: its women
members to fully participate in
all policy making decisions.

It is interesting to note that
in the past few years there has
been a greater participation of
women in political life at the
municipal level. It has been for
some time a fact that more
women are elected to town and
city councils and school boards
throughout Canada (although

the number is pitifully small).
A woman mayor or reeve is still
an exceptional event today.

The new City of Winnipeg
Act instituted not only a-large
50-member council of Unicity in
1971, but also set up citizen
advisory groups in each of the
50 wards. While the City Coun-
cil has only 4 women council-
lors the number of women ac-
tive in the advisory groups is
very heartening and bodes well
for larger numbers of women
ready to stand for election in
the future.

Grassroots Involvement

As a grassroots type of com-
munity involvement it has pro-
vided working women oppor-
tunities for political growth and
development in the struggles
for the interests of the working
people as opposed to monopolies
and big business which have
brought Canada inflation, grow-
ing unemployment, foreign-con-

._ trol and insecurity.

In this year of Winnipeg’s
Centennial there is to -be a civic
election in the fall. Working
class women together with men
have a very important role to
play in the developing Civic Re-
form Coalition movement which
is presenting itself as the alter-
native: to the control of Big
Business interests have over
city council at present.

Uknew Ihave had an nv sval life,

ing born in a skin ten€ end
living to hear ow tHe roadie

_ two men heave landed on the moon.”
~Pitseolak Asheena.

From HERSTORY's Calendar, October 4, ae
1971, Pitseolak ("Sea Pigeon'') Ashoona
presents a book by Dorothy Eber to the
National Library, 'Pitseolak — Pictures Out
of My Life." She says: "I have lost the time
when | was born but | am old now—my sons
say maybe | am 70. | (draw) the things |,
have never seen, monsters and spirits, the
old ways and things we did long ago befare
there were many white men. | know | have
had an unusual life, being born in a skin tent
and living to hear on the radio that two
men have landed on the moon. To make
prints is not easy. You must think first and
this is hard to do. But | am happy doing the
prints. After my husband died | felt very
alone and unwanted, making prints is what
has made me happiest since he died. | am
going to keep on doing them until they tell
me to stop. If no one tells me to stop, | shall
make them as long as | am well. If | can, I'll
that make them even after I'm dead."

(a rough copy of a print by Pitseolak Ashoona,
traced from HERSTORY, October.)

Manitoba women in politics | Books ABOUT STRUGGLE |

HERSTORY
A Canadian Women's

Calendar

Herstory A Canadian Women’s
Calendar, 1974, by Saskatoon
Women’s Calendar Collective:
June Bantjes, Beth Foster, Gwen
Gray, Colleen Pollreis, Erin
Shoemaker, with help of (O.F.Y.)
Published by The Women’s
Press, 280 Bloor St. W., Ste. 305,
Toronto, $3.

% * *

Rich in its record of factual
events in the ‘herstory” of -Cana-
dian women, and its varied
choices of pungent comments of
our sisters, past and present,
this well-documented Calendar
will stay with us long after the
passing of 1974. Although not the
first of such effort, it’s the best
to date. Next time round, such a
Calendar should be better bal-
anced for cross-Canada content.

A serious weakness is lack of
material from our French-Cana-
dian sisters. But we do enjoy
that Prairie flavor! In history
books’ general lack of recogni-
tion of the Communist move-
ment, it’s good to see “Herstory”
recording the fact of Beckie
Buhay’s. and Florence Cus-
tance’s part at the first cen-;
tral committee in 1922. Also
many apt quotes from former
M.P. Dorise Nielsen. The breadth
of events in photos and quota-
tions reflects the long story of
struggles of women in farm or-
ganizations, trade unions, in arts,
education and politics.

But how did they miss out the
Congress of Canadian Women
and its sister affiliates, their long
struggles on prices, housing,
women’s rights, and peace, with
no mention of Nora Rodd’s
brave leadership of the WIFD
delegation to Korea? Still, a
valuable book to own and a de-
light for a gift.

MARXISM AND
FEMINISM

Marxism and Feminism by Char-
nie Guettel.

($1) Published by the Women’s
Press, Ste. 305, 280 Bloor St. W.,
Toronto. (Group discount of
40% on prepaid orders of. five or
more copies to one address.)

* * *

A class-conscious examination
of the position of women in his-
tory and society, this book fills
an aching void in Canadian liter-
ature of the 1970’s on a question
being ardently debated anew.
Charnie Guettel polemicizes with
some of the modern-day femi-
nists, and, as a Communist,
provides clarification of some of
the basic issues on which femi-
nists have over the generations
gone astray.

Yet she does not antagonize,
manages to convey a sympathe-
tic understanding which should
draw forth warm discussion and
help women seek out socialist
perspectives. Her essay, — or
series of essays — in this at-
tractive 62-page paperback, de-
serves wide circulation and a
more thorough critical review

than offered here. Properly,
Communist. Viewpoint can offer
such an analysis. While Com-
munist women will find the sins
of omission the most worrisome,
with her total lack of bibliogra-
phical references to Canadian
Communist writing, neverthe-
less, Charnie Guettel is to be
greatly commended for her in-
itiative and hard work.

It is to be hoped that Commu-
nist writing on this question
will intensify, since this is the
first major effort since 1968,
when the Communist Party pre-
sented its Brief-to the Royal
Commission on the Status of
Women.

THE TWO-THIRDS
MINORITY

Women in Canadian
Education

The Two-thirds Minority: Wom-
en in Canadian Education, by
Sybil Shack. Published by The
Governing Council of the Uni-
versity of Toronto, 1973. $2.75

One could add a string of de-
grees in Arts and Education, and
an LLD to the name of this Win-
nipeg school principal, but she’s
a modest person, while calling
ardently in this book on women
teachers to be less modest, and
more aggressive in playing their
full part as equal educators in
Canadian school systems.

Those of us lucky enough to
hear her speak know. she’s no
high falutin’ professional in an
ivory tower, though she has won
her academic honors too. She’s
down-to-earth, intensely human
in‘ her illustrative anecdotes, in
speech or in her books. This one
combines a rare contribution for
all teachers to learn from and
enjoy in their daily round in our
class-rooms, together with a
stern rebuke of sexism in educa-
tion and a stirring challenge to
women to get up and fight for
their rights and for quality in the
profession.

SHE WANTED
TO READ:

The Story of
Mary McLeod Bethune

She Wanted To Read: The Story
of Mary McLeod Bethune, by
Ella Kaiser Carruth.

An Archway Paperback; Wash-
ington Square Press, New York,
distributed in Canada by Simon
& Schuster of Canada Ltd., Rich-
mond Hill, Ontario. $.60

% oa %

Born in 1875, Mary Jane Mc-
Leod grew up on a cotton plan-
tation in South Carolina. No-
body in her family could read or
write. At eleven, she walked five
miles to attend school for the
first time, and she never stop-
ped. She became a teacher in
an empty shack with only $1.50.
This is a children’s story about a
girl and women of courage and
intelligence, who stood up to the
Ku Klux Klan, and who became
a great Black educator, a world-
acclaimed college president and
civic leader.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1974—PAGE 7