Royal Commission on the Status of Women

The Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a Canadian Royal Commission that examined the status of women and recommended steps that might be taken by the federal government to ensure equal opportunities with men and women in all aspects of Canadian society. The Commission commenced on 16 February 1967 as an initiative of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Public sessions were conducted the following year to accept public comment for the Commission to consider as it formulated its recommendations. Florence Bird was the Commission's chair.

In Canada, 32 women’s groups had formed. As a result, Lester B. Pearson created the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission was created to ensure equality for women, and was the first Commission to be chaired by women. The Commission wrote reports to the government about issues regarding pay, child care, birth control and education. The government responded to these issues by creating the Status of Women in 1971 to inform the public about these issues.

Lester B. Pearson established the Royal Commission on the Status of Women because of the discrimination towards women and different genders. Florence Bayard Bird was associated with the Canadian Senate in 1978 and was part of the Royal Commission in 1967. Since she was part of the Royal Commission’s chair, she was given thousands of letters from public hearings concerning women’s rights. The arguments in the letters from common people mostly stated that men and women were seen as equal, but they were not in many ways. The main argument Bird covered was inequality pay. Women were earning half of what men earned for the same job. Bird’s commission also fought for their right to abortion and birth control access.

Elsie MacGill, Queen of the Hurricanes, was one of Canada’s top aeronautical engineers, which is a field typically dominated by men. She was known for being an “engineer” instead of a “woman engineer” that reinforced her feminism. After being involved in the Second World War, she was involved in the Royal Commission on the Status of Women alongside Bird in 1967.Because of her workforce experience, she advocated for women in the workforce. MacGill was heavily involved with women being paid for maternity leave. As a liberal feminist, MacGill believed that women should also have full control over their bodies, and should have the right to abort, much like Bird.

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