Women have always been the primary influence in the private lives of their families, organizations and communities, but had no public role in early 19th century Canada at all. The right to vote was strictly for men only and women were not recognized in the Constitution as legal 'persons', they had absolutely no political rights whatsoever. And when women were given the right to vote and hold political office, their interests were still not equally represented in politics and were still not socially equal to their husbands or male co-workers. …
