In 2016, let's make women visible, starting with the money

Historian Merna Forsteris right on the money when she says we can all play a role in celebrating and raising the awareness of Canadianwomen, and on the money would be a great place to commemoratewomenin the year 2016.

The new year is an extremely important oneforwomenacross Manitoba andCanada, for it is the 100thanniversary of certainwomenfirst winning the right to vote. Manitobawomenled the way in 1916, thanks to Nellie McClung, resulting in our province being the first to grant this privilege to some womena right that most men simply took for granted.

Federally,womenwere not allowed to vote until 1918 and even then that did not include allwomenacross Canada.

Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, was elected in 1867. It wasn't until recently when Canada's 23rdprime minister, Justin Trudeau, was sworn in148 years laterthat cabinet, for the first time in our history, attained gender parity.

When the Victoria-based Forster wrote her sequel,100MoreCanadian Heroines,she noted in her introduction that "the first and only great CanadianwomanI remember hearing about as a child was Nellie McClung." That's it. Other than that, she did not grow up learning much about any other female Canadians. Why?

Forster added that a CBC television contest launched in 2004 to determine the "greatest Canadian in our history" resulted in only sixwomen makingthe top fifty. They were Laura Secord, Nellie McClung, Mary Maxwell, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne and Cline Dion. The final top ten selected were all men.

Likely, Forster says, many were not aware of the abundance of other females they could have chosen.

'Makeit Happen' was the theme for InternationalWomen's Day, held on March 8. It is a century where some progress has happened but so muchmoreneeds to happen around the world in terms of thehorrific physical and sexual violence against females;the appalling poverty that manywomenlive in, the denial of education for females in many countries, the absence of equal rights, equal pay, the lack of representation in government and muchmore.

Here in Canada, Forster has concentrated on promoting the awareness of noteworthy Canadianwomen. She has written two books dedicated to Canadian heroines;some famous, many not at all well-known and otherslikely forgotten, hoping her efforts would help to liberate them from obscurity.

It is true that in looking back and in trying to trace the history of significant events, places or prominent people, it is men who pop up most frequently. It is their names that figure most prominently as subject matter literally dominating the pages of our old newspapers, books, magazines andliterature.

Whenwomenare not seen and not heard;itleads to them not being acknowledged, not being considered important.

Womenare becomingmorevisibletoday in many ways, but we havesuch a long road ahead of us,and much of it is uphill.Womenare paid less and struggle in many ways, bearing on their shoulders most of the unpaid domestic labour that keeps families and in fact society, running.

It has been said that even Nellie McClung would not have been able to do what she did if she had not belonged to a class of people that was able to afford household help.

Forster initiated a petition in Canada in 2013 to putwomenon the money. That is, to include Canadianwomenon bank notes. She toldCanadian Geographicin December2014, "I realized that the only Canadianwomento evermakeit onto the bank notes had been removed. On the back of the $50 bill we had the statues of the Famous Fivefrom The Persons Case; they were replaced by an icebreaker."

The petition is still ongoing. In October 2015,Forster noted on her Facebook sitea site she created to promote Canadianwomenin historythatmorethan 64,000 Canadians had signed the petition. The Bank of Canada, she had said earlier this year, "had still not accepted the demands of the petition, so the campaign continues."

She claims there is no shortage of notable Canadian females; they are simply not represented in theimages around us that contribute to our view, to our understanding of the world.

Some of thewomenput forward by campaign supporters as possible candidates for our paper money are Viola Desmond, a civil rights icon; Thanadelthur, a powerful Chipewyan Dene who served as a guide in the fur trade and Dr. JennieTrout, said to be the firstwomanlicensed to practice medicine in Canada. And of course Manitoba's own Nellie McClung.

Likely many have not even heard of the first three Canadianwomenmentioned. The current series of bank notes depicts Sir John A. MacDonald, Sir Robert Borden, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Queen Elizabeth.

Forster insists we can all contribute. And she is right. Aside from signing petitions, we canmakemovies, write books, articles, teach and tell stories featuringwomenin our classrooms, in our communities and in our homes. We can help tomakemorevisiblethe discrimination, horrendous cruelty, trafficking and poverty suffered bywomenincountries around the world.

And so in 2016, the anniversary of certainwomenfirst obtaining the right to vote, we can all choose to honour, to celebrate, to rememberwomenand to helpmakethemmorevisibleall year long. What better year is there to finally put Canadianwomenon our bank notes?

Cheryl Girard is a Winnipeg writer.