tries. During the twentieth century, the women’s
movement gained force, and by the 1960’s and
1970’s women were demanding an end to many of
the traditional discriminatory practices, in labor in
government and in attitudes toward them.
In 1982, Canadian women made significant gains
in eliminating discriminatory laws with the passage
of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Still, many issues remained unresolved, including
those of abortion, pornography, and equal treat-
ment in the workforce. In contrast, in the United
States in 1982, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA),
which would have guaranteed equal rights regard-
less of sex, failed to become part of the Constitution,
since it was not ratified within the period allowed.
Women in Canadian Government The 1990’s was a
period in which Canadian women exercised their
right to participate in the governing processes of
their country. In 1991, Rita Margaret Johnston be-
came the first woman to serve as a premier in Can-
ada. She had been appointed deputy premier by
British Columbia’s premier William Vander Zalm in
- Vander Zalm’s administration was fraught
with scandals, which resulted in his resignation on
April 2, 1991, and in Johnston’s move into the office
of premier. Canada chose Louise Fréchette as its
ambassador to the United Nations in 1991; she was
the first woman to serve as Canadian ambassador to
the organization. In 1993, Catherine Callbeck was
elected premier of Prince Edward Island, making
her the first woman elected to the office. That same
year, Canada saw the election of its first female prime
minister, Kim Campbell, and its first female deputy
prime minister, Shelia Copps. By 1996, however,
women still accounted for only a small percentage of
the members of the House of Commons and for only
23 percent of the Senate.
The 1990’s also witnessed the first important ap-
pointments of women in the court systems of Can-
ada. In 1991, Catherine Anne Fraser was the first
woman to be named chief justice of a provincial
court with her appointment in Alberta. In 1999,
Canada appointed Beverley McLachlin as its first fe-
male chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Canadian Workforce and Poverty In the
1990’s, Canadian women as a group did not see a ma-
jor overall change in their situation in the workplace
or in their fight against poverty. Poverty remained a
serious concern for women since a majority of
women were still employed in low-paying service
jobs and subsidized licensed day care was not readily
available. Women’s poverty was further exacer-
bated when family allowance, a government subsidy
paid to families with children to help cover the costs
of rearing children, was eliminated in 1992. In 1995,
women led by the Fédération des Femmes du
Québec marched to the Quebec legislature in a
Women’s March Against Poverty to demand eco-
nomic justice.
Regarding equality in the workplace, women
made significant gains during the decade. In 1995,
the Canadian government published Setting the
Stage for the Next Centur y: The Federal Plan for Gender
Equalityto improve equality for women. Christine
Silverberg became the first female police chief in a
major Canadian city when she became chief of the
Calgary Police Services. In 1999, the Supreme
Court of Canada found that an aerobics fitness test
for firefighters discriminated against women be-
cause of their physiology and did not assess ability
to perform the job. The court further ruled that job
standards cannot be solely determined by capabili-
ties that favor men.Violence Against Canadian Women Women in
Canada made some of the greatest gains during the
1990’s in the right to be protected from violence and
to have nondiscriminatory remedies in the courts.
In 1992, Canada, in amending its Criminal Code, le-
gally defined consent in regard to sexual assault for
the first time. In 1995, the Criminal Code was further
modified by Bill C-72, stating that intoxication could
no longer be used as a defense in cases of sexual as-
sault and/or battery. In 1999, the Supreme Court of
Canada ruled that “implied consent” to sexual as-
sault does not exist in Canadian law. The Family Vio-
lence Initiative in 1997 and the Iqaluit Declaration
in 1998 further confirmed Canada’s commitment
to eliminating violence against women. In addition,
in 1993, Canada changed its guidelines in regard
to refugees to include women who faced gender-
associated persecution.
Canada also played a significant international
role in the efforts to alleviate violence against
women. From 1993 to 1995, Canada successfully in-
troduced a number of resolutions in the United Na-
tions to include women’s rights as a part of human
rights in all considerations dealing with the issueThe Nineties in America Women’s rights 929