April 5, 1917 - British Columbia Women Vote

Human Rights a Day

British Columbia women granted the right to vote. Canadian women were never formally and legally denied the right to vote until the 1867 British North America Act spelled out the exclusion. It was now up to the provinces to overturn that, and they did, one by one, initially for white women. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta led the way in 1916. In British Columbia, the Political Equality League presented Conservative Premier Sir Richard McBride with a petition of 10,000 signatures in 1912. When he refused to grant their request, suffragists shifted their support to the Liberals. The 1916 general election ran a referendum question on the ballot asking men if they wanted to extend the vote to women. The “yeahs” outnumbered the “nays” more than two to one. On April 5, 1917, Liberal Premier Harlan Brewster delivered on his promise and the referendum results to give B.C. women the vote.