Before the advent of the Royal commission, traditional women traditional women's group, like the National Council of Women, used to meet with the federal cabinet occasionally, to discuss issues of concern. In the 60s the pressure of rapid social change, the increased participation of women in the labour force, the increased participation of women in post-secondary and the growth of the women liberation movement in the Western world all contributed to the social and political context in with pressure for a Royal Commission on the status of Women arose. It was pressure from women's groups and from concerned women like Laura Sabia, as well as the influence of women government especially Judy La Marsh who was a cabinet minister which led to the formation of the Royal Commission, the event in the birth of wave of feminism in Canada

The Royal Commission was set up in February of 1967. Its report was published in September, 1970. The commissioners received almost 500 briefs, and about 1,000 letters. They held public hearing all across the country, at which almost 900 witnesses appeared. They also set up an extensive program of research and commissioned 40 special studies on a variety of topics. The Royal Commission offered individual people and groups a forum for expressing concerns about the status of women in Canada. It was an incredibly important opportunity for existing women's groups and the ones which presented briefs included Women's Institutes University Women's Clubs, Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Teachers Federations, Registered Nurses, and flight attendants. They included church groups, groups inside the political parties, family planning groups and ranged from the Catholic Women's League and the IODE to the Central Executive of the Communist Party of Canada and the League for Socialist Action. There were a handful of submissions from unions (CLC CUPE and the Women's Auxiliary of Local 360 of The United Autoworkers). The most intriguing briefs and ones I hope to read one day were submitted by "a group of women" with no organizational name in Shuswap B.C. or Fredericton N.B. That is by unnamed newly formed groups which came together in order to write briefs and present them to the Commission. Some of those groups and their descendants are among those fighting for social change for women today.

The Royal Commission addressed a number of crucial topics: women in the economy education, women and the family including divorce and parenting, taxation and child care allowances poverty and the participation of women in public life. The recommendations of the Royal Commission offered women and women's groups a program around which to lobby for change. Indeed just at the time of the report and in the first years after it, were formed organizations of women dedicated specifically to improving the status of women. These groups did not exist in time to present briefs to the Royal Commission, but instead arose to press for change after the report of to the Royal Commission--groups like the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and the Manitoba Action Committee, the Saskatchewan Action Committee, and all the provincial action committees formed to lobby for change at both the provincial and the federal levels. It was part of the naivete of those times and of some women's groups then, that some believed that if women pointed out the injustices towards women in the economy, in the laws and in the administration of law, in the educational system and in the way women were in portrayed in the media that if the problems women faced in the home and in family life, in the labour force, the education system and society as a whole were pointed out, the laws and practices would be changed, and the status of women would be significantly improved in a relatively short time. The remarkable rationality of that position showed the faith which was behind it, a faith that society wanted to be just, it simply needed for us to point out the injustices clearly and suggest changes. Well, we discovered that in these matters, the rationality and justice of our position were is not enough, and are not enough. We in discovered that our positions needed to be backed up with political power with our determination and our commitment

When people think of the accomplishments of the feminist movement in the last 13 years, they are likely to think of issues on which feminism seems to have won a battle. The most obvious one which comes to mind is inclusion and protection of equality rights in the Charter of Rights of Canada's new constitution. That victory, which I believe is an enormously significant one, is the one people across the country remember and allude to, and for very good reason. It demonstrated the power, organization, sophistication and determination of the women's movement across the country. It showed the various governments of the country that even in a federal-provincial negotiation which seems to have been constructed in a way which made it almost impossible for our concerns to be met, women were able, though with a great deal of difficulty, to make their voices heard. The sense of a women's victory which governments now feel is connected to their surprise that we got our act together and manage to force them to acknowledge at least some of our concerns. But I think it's worth remembering that the reason women's groups and individual women were able to do this is because of the issues we fought around, the organizations we formed, the services we provided and the new issues we articulated for ourselves in the 10-12 years between the time of the Royal Commission and the time of the constitutional battles. Much of that work and preparation was not noticed by the media as it was happening, but it was and is the basis of our strength and will be the source out of which will come future and greater victories.



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