Suffragettes_Panel While for most Canadian women the struggle has been a long but straightforward one, for Aboriginal women it has been more problematic. Once again it was our first Prime Minister who envisaged the future. Macdonald wanted native people to gain the franchise, an act at that time of immense symbolic importance, without losing any of their rights under either the Indian Act or any of their treaties. But it was not until 1960 that all First Nations peoples, men and women, were granted the right to vote in Federal elections without giving up their treaty rights and status. During World War 1 two acts were passed by Parliament granting the vote to almost all women with connections to the war, including relatives of anyone serving in the military. On January 1, 1919 all women were granted the vote. On the whole, federal, provincial and municipal suffrage proceeded independently of each other. And when it was granted it was often on a piece meal basis. Newspaper records show that, in late December 1914, a group of determined women presented themselves to Cobourg Council requesting that Council submit a referendum to the people of the town - Were they, or were they not, in favour of extending the franchise to married women in municipal affairs? The delegation gave several reasons for their request: The first municipal franchise was granted to widows and spinsters in Ontario back in 1884. Once a woman married she lost her right to vote. In Canada, the U.S and abroad, several municipalities had already extended the franchise to married women. The women resented being lumped in with inmates of asylums and prisons, who also could not vote! Council members voted in favour of their request. Although married women were successful in their bid to secure the right to vote in municipal matters, resistance prevailed and reaction was swift: X X X X We were shocked to hear that the ladies of Cobourg were granted the franc hise and the new s certain ly did no t please th e writer who cam e home o n a fast t rain to c ast a ballot ag ainst thi s silly leg islation.. ..perhap s the 'we e dears' will don the King 's unifor m, shoul der a rif le, leave us at home to mind the baby an d attend five o'clo ck teas a nd social cir cles... The Cobou rg World January 29, 191 5 The dates when provincial suffrage became official: Manitoba January 28, 1916 Saskatchewan March 14, 1916 Alberta April 19, 1916 British Columbia April 5, 1917 Ontario April 12, 1917 Nova Scotia April 26, 1918 New Brunswick April 17, 1919 Prince Edward Island May 3, 1922 Newfoundland April 13, 1925 Quebec April 25, 1940 Inspiring Women - A Celebration of Her Story by Mona Holmlund