Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada : The Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada was established under Order in Council P.C. 312, 16 February 1967, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1952, c.154) and on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report upon the status of women in Canada, and to recommend what steps might be taken by the Federal Government to ensure for women equal opportunities with men in all aspects of Canadian society, having regard for the distribution of legislative powers under the constitution of Canada, particularly with reference to federal statutes, regulations and policies that concern or affect the rights and activities of women and, to inquire into and report on: (1) Laws and practices under federal jurisdiction concerning the political rights of women; (2) The present and potential role of women in the Canadian labour force, including the special problems of married women in employment and measures that might be taken under federal jurisdiction to help in meeting them; (3) Measures that might be taken under federal jurisdiction to permit the better use of the skills and education of women, including the special re-training requirements of married women who wish to re-enter professional or skilled employment; (4) Federal labour laws and regulations in their application to women; (5) Laws, practices and policies concerning the employment and promotion of women in the Federal Civil Service, by Federal Crown Corporations and by Federal Agencies; (6) Federal taxation pertaining to women; (7) Marriage and divorce; (8) The position of women under the Criminal Law; (9) Immigration and citizenship laws, policies and practices with respect to women; and such other matters in relation to the status of women in Canada as may appear to the Commissioners to be relevant. The commissioners were Florence Bayard Bird, Chairperson; Lola M. Lange, Jeanne Lapointe, Elsie Gregory MacGill, Doris Ogilvie, Jacques Henripin and Donald Gordon, Jr. Donald Gordon resigned as Commissioner on 1 November 1967 (Order in Council P.C. 2164, 21 November 1967) and was replaced by John P. Humphrey on 2 February 1968 (Order in Council P.C. 229, 2 February 1968). The secretary was Monique Bégin.
In April 1963, when Judy LaMarsh became Minister of National Health and Welfare in the Pearson Administration, she indicated to the Prime Minister the need for a public inquiry on the status of women in Canada similar to one which President Kennedy had established in the United States. Early in 1965, La Marsh wrote:
"Pearson seemed at last to be prepared to accept my advice and to set up such a commission. I had provided him with a draft of the proposed terms of reference, and a copy of the Kennedy Commission's reference and its report together with a long list of women who might serve on such a commission."
Although the subject was raised in the federal cabinet on 11 October 1965, according to LaMarsh, the Prime Minister did not respond because the press in Canada was very negative to the idea.
LaMarsh, who became Secretary of State in December 1965, claimed that she would have been unable to convince the federal government to appoint a Commission on women's rights without the assistance of Laura Sabia, then President of the Canadian Federation of University Women. On 18 April 1966, Sabia sent a letter to all established women's organizations in Canada calling for a meeting to discuss the status of women. The meeting, held in Toronto on 3 May 1966, was attended by 50 women representing 32 organizations. It led to the establishment of the Committee on the Equality of Women in Canada (CEW) under Sabia's leadership.
In a letter to Prime Minister Pearson, dated 26 September 1966, Sabia pointed out some of the results of the meeting:
"There was general agreement among thirty-two of the National Organizations representing over a million and a half women that a comprehensive inquiry into the factors which prevent women from participating fully in the economic, educational, political, social and professional life of Canada was imperative ... we submit that a Royal Commission on the Status of Women would be a first step to this important realization."
The CEW also made a submission to the Government of Canada, on 15 September, requesting a meeting with the Prime Minister about women's rights.
The objectives of the CEW were strongly promoted in the House of Commons, by Judy LaMarsh and Grace MacInnis. Also, Doris Anderson, the editor of Chatelaine, wrote an editorial in the July 1966 issue of the magazine in favor of a royal commission.
When the delegation representating the CEW went to Ottawa, on 10 November 1966, they met with the Minister of Justice, Lucien Cardin, the Secretary of State, Judy LaMarsh, and the Minister of Labour, J.R. Nicholson. The issues addressed in the CEW's submission were as follows:
"discriminatory employment laws and practices, outdated legislation on marriage, divorce and the domicile of married women, education, automation and immigration and the slowness with which Canada was ratifying the United Nations and International Labour Organization's labour conventions."
Despite these initiatives, the government was hesitant. Early in January 1967, Sabia, the head of CEW, reacted by a veiled threat of a women's march on Ottawa. In addition, Judy LaMarsh continued to exert pressure for action on women's issues within the Cabinet. Finally, on 3 February 1967, the Prime Minister announced that the Government had decided to establish a royal commission "to inquire into and report on the Status of Women in Canada and to recommend what steps might be taken by the federal government to ensure their equality with men in all aspects of Canadian society." (See Judy LaMarsh, Memoires of a Bird in a Gilded Cage, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, Ltd., 1968, pp. 301-302; House of Commons, Debates, 29 June 1966; p. 7022; 10 November 1966, p. 9770; 10 January 1967, p. 11,587; 26 January 1967, p. 12,258; and 3 February 1967, pp. 12,613 to 12,614; Chatelaine, July 1966, and February 1967; Cerise Morris, "Determination and Thoroughness: The Movement for a Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada", Atlantis: A Women's Studies Journal/ Journal d'études sur la femme, vol. 5, no. 2, Spring, 1980, pp. 1-21 and National Archives of Canada, Lester B. Pearson Papers, MG 26, N4, vol. 151, file No. 354, Part I: Submissions).
Hearings of the commission were held in St. John's, Halifax, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Whitehorse and Yellowknife from 16 April to 4 October 1968. Further, discussion groups and interviews were conducted in four settlements in the Keewatin District and in Churchill. The commission filed 468 submissions. RG33-89 General Inventory
