The women's web : networking in Saskatchewan and the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada

Abstract

This thesis investigates Saskatchewan's participation in and reaction to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada (1967-1970). The commission was established in response to pressure from national women's organizations following decades of lobbying on status issues. It occurred at a time when the United Nations and many other western countries were undertaking similar studies and as frustration with discrimination of the 1960s increased, culminating in the women's movement of the 1970s. In Saskatchewan, the inquiry played a part in this process by inspiring some individuals and established women's clubs who participated in the study to continue the work it had taken on. A number of them went on to build new organizations with the express purpose of pushing for the implementation of the commission's recommendations. By forging networks among moderate members of traditional associations and more radical women's liberationists, these status committees created a new niche of activity within the fledgling women's movement. In doing so they drew strengths from both worlds and ensured that the report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a vision that was not forgotten in Saskatchewan.