Our Time

There have been other times when women have stood up and said  “Enough!”  

Enough of not being permitted to enrol in law school or medical school — just because we are women. Enough of not having the right to vote — just because we are  women.  Enough of not being allowed to compete for certain jobs — just because we are women.  

Each of these inflection points yielded change that uplifted the lives of wives, mothers, sisters and daughters, and took society along with it. In each case, these heroic animators of history made it possible for others to build on their accomplishments. They would have been disappointed if we did not avail ourselves of that opportunity, especially in this time of reckoning.

This generation of women has had enough of being disrespected, harassed, bullied and assaulted in the workplace by powerful men enabled by frequently derelict, and often resentful, organizations. 

Because this generation of women has had enough of being disrespected, harassed, bullied and assaulted in the workplace by powerful men who have been enabled by frequently derelict, and often resentful, organizations — just because we are women.

This is our time. And, as countless women find the courage to come forward and speak out, to demand change, or to seek healing and justice for previous abuses, we all find the courage to stand up against the evil of sexual misconduct.  When our many voices become one, we are a force that cannot be held back.  

As Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 – 1928), one of the leading Suffragettes of her time, would likely advise, we all need to make sure that this voice is heard.  It is the only way for there to be any hope that the price so many women have paid because of a toxic workplace — paid with our dignity, health and careers — will not have to be paid by others.

“I saw what could be done for I had a vision of a new world as I talked.”

—Nellie McClung, 1945 | Canadian trailblazer in the movement that won women the right to vote, first recognized in Manitoba in 1916. 

Among gathered admirers, the “Famous Five”, whose efforts eventually won recognition that women were actually “persons” under the BNA Act and therefore eligible to hold appointment to the Canadian Senate.