BRITISH COLUMBIA
CELEBRATING BC’S FIRST 100 WOMEN MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
The upcoming centenary of the election of Mary Ellen Smith, British Columbia’s first woman Member of the Legislative Assembly in 1918, provides an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable contributions of the province’s female MLAs
The Honourable Linda Reid
has served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since her election to the position in June 2013. Previously, she served as Deputy Speaker from 2009 – 2013. Ms. Reid served as Minister responsible for early childhood development (2001 – 2005) and child care (2005 – 2009). First elected as a Member of BC’s Legislative Assembly in 1991, Ms. Reid is BC’s longest- serving current MLA.
In April 2013 British Columbia achieved an important milestone. With 11 women elected as first- time Members of the Legislative Assembly in the province’s 40th general election, British Columbia elected its 100th woman MLA. We are also approaching the 100th anniversary of the by-election victory of Mary Ellen Smith, the first woman elected to BC’s Legislative Assembly, in 1918.
Between 1891 and 1914, 16 women’s suffrage bills were introduced, and defeated, in British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly. Following a referendum on the issue undertaken in conjunction with the province’s 1916 general election, in April of 1917 British Columbia became the fourth province in Canada to grant women, who qualified as British subjects, the right to vote in provincial elections and to stand for provincial office. While this legislation heralded a great step forward for women’s rights, the voting franchise would not become universal in BC until 1949, when it was finally broadened
26 | The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue One
to run in her husband’s vacated seat following his sudden death in 1917. First elected as an ‘Independent Liberal’, she ran for re-election in 1920 and 1924 under the banner of the Liberal party of the day.
Hon. Linda Reid, Speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
to include First Nations women and men, and women and men of Japanese descent. I would like to take this milestone as an opportunity to celebrate the strength, character, and contributions of some of these remarkable provincial leaders.
Born and raised in England, Mary Ellen Smith immigrated to British Columbia with her husband in 1891. Smith had been a passionate activist on the drive for women’s suffrage in the province in the decades leading up to the successful 1916 referendum, so it was perhaps fitting when she was called upon
As an MLA, Smith continued her advocacy work on behalf of women, children and the underprivileged, introducing a Bill calling for a minimum wage for women that remained in effect until 1972. She is additionally recognized as the first female member of cabinet and the first woman to preside over parliamentary proceedings as an acting Speaker anywhere in the British Empire.
In 1950 British Columbia marked another first when Nancy Hodges was appointed as Speaker of the House – the first woman Speaker in any jurisdiction in the Commonwealth. Hodges grew up in London, England, before relocating to Kamloops, BC, in 1912 to facilitate her husband’s tuberculosis convalescence. The couple moved to Victoria in 1916, where she served as women’s editor for the Victoria
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80