The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1994, Page 15

spring, 1994
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
125
English-speaking counterparts,
securing signatures on petitions in
support of woman suffrage to present
to the new Premier Norris. “Sigur-
vonin” urged all Icelandic women in
the province to apply their signatures
to the petition saying, “Icelandic
women here in the province were the
first to make any moves in this
matter. It will be a lasting tribute to
the nobility of the Icelandic women of
old, if we, their descendants here in a
foreign country, tackle this ener-
getically. Icelandic women in Win-
nipeg, Argyle and Gimli struggled for
woman suffrage before it became
popular and while criticized by most
as not being feminine ... it would not
be in keeping with our Nordic
character to retreat.”
The women of Manitoba were
overwhelmingly successful in their
campaign. On December 23, 1915 a
delegation of men and women
presented not one but two petitions
to Premier Norris with twice the
required number of signatures. On
January 27, 1916 third reading of
the bill to grant women the provincial
suffrage was moved by the province’s
Solicitor-General, and acting Premier,
T.H. Johnson, a member of Mani-
toba’s Icelandic community. The next
day, royal assent was given, and for
the first time in Canadian history
women were granted the provincial
suffrage.
The women of Manitoba now had
the right to vote and this was a
privilege that they immediately began
to utilize. The women of Manitoba
had also been granted the right to sit
as members of the legislative
assembly. However, the province has
elected few women to the provincial
legislature, and most of those in
recent years. The Icelandic
community has returned only one
woman since that historic day. This
being Salome Halldorson, a member
of the Social Credit party, who was
elected to represent the St. George
constituency in 1936.
Reflecting back, at the time, on
the struggle of the past quarter of a
century, the Icelandic suffragists
must have viewed the victory of
Manitoba women as bitter-sweet.
The only woman suffrage paper
published in Canada had been
produced by a woman who was a
member of the Icelandic community.
The first woman suffrage association
in Manitoba was established within
the Icelandic community by that
same woman. And, the first petition
requesting that women be granted
the suffrage came from Icelandic
women in New Iceland. Yet it was the
Manitoba Political Equality League
that led the women of Manitoba in
their final and successful campaign
for provincial suffrage. This turn of
events was largely due to the fact
that the English-speaking suffragists
made little effort to communicate or
co-operate with the Icelandic women.
It was also due, in part, to the fact
that Freyja was an Icelandic lang-
uage paper; the English-speaking
suffragists were unable to access its
contents. But, would improved
communications and additional
attempts at co-operation have made
a difference in the way events
unfolded?
Benedictsson’s ideological lean-
ings, religion and ethnic background
were different from that of her
English-speaking counterparts. Lead-
ers of the Manitoba movement were
Anglo-Saxon; they were Protestant;
they were middle class; they were
housewives, although there were
some professional women among
them; and they stressed the sanctity
of marriage and motherhood accord-
ing to the prevailing ideology of
“maternal feminism.”
Although Benedictsson shared