Henri Bourassa and “the woman question”*

Henri Bourassa and "the woman question"* SUSAN MANN TROFIMENKOFF In the 1960s EngVish Canadians rediscovered Henri Bourassa and made of him a man ahead of his time, a prophet of bilingualism and biculturalism, a salve for the Canadian conscience, pestered as it was by everincreasing signs of unhappiness· from Quebec . Earlier generations of English Canadians had known him too, particularly those living in the 1900s and 191 Os. They made of Bourassa a traitor to the Canadian cause; they feared, distrusted, even hated him. In both instances, Bourassa's penchant for going against the majority made of him a 'force to be reckoned with,' and a radical one at that, to English and French Canadians alike. Whether provided by our grandparents or our teachers, the popular image of Henri Bourassa has thus always been a rouge image. But Laurier, who knew him well, had called Bourassa a castor rouge. The castor in Bourassa has largely been taken for granted by historians, with a nod to his ultramontanism and a quick passing on to more exciting things. It is perhaps time to have a closer look at the castor side of Bourassa, and where better to find it than in his attitudes to women? On three separate occasions, in 1913, 1918, and 1925, Bourassa filled his pen with vitriol and denounced what modern society seemed to be doing to his women. Indeed, according to Bourassa's logic, each occasion led inexorably to the next; he could well have written everything he had to say on "the woman question" in 1913. Instead he awaited circumstances, rushed into print, probably muttering to himself "I told yoµ so" and then after 1925 never said another word on the subject. The three issues which prompted his ire were feminism in 1913, woman suffrage in 1918 and divorce in 1925. * An initial version of this paper was presented to the Ottawa Historical Association, Jan. 24, 1975. Journal of Canadian Studies In each case the circumstances, Bourassa's ideas and the echoes those ideas created reveal a particular view of women, a particular view of men and a particular, albeit partial, view of the castor Bourassa. Of the three aspects of the "woman question " with which Bourassa dealt, feminism had the largest geographical setting. Feminism was "in the air" internationally and any Quebecois newspaper reader would have been aware of it. Of course, militant feminism received the most publicity for this was the heyday of British suffragettes' use of 'violence ' and subjection to it, and Quebecois press readers were not spared any of the grisly details. 1 Indeed some of the leading British suffragettes had visited Montreal,2 making speeches and urging on the more hesitant colonials. "Don't be submissive. Don't be docile. Don't be ladylike. Don't dread being conspicious..." shouted Mrs. Barbara Wylie3 to the consternation of Canadian castors like Henri Bourassa. This "plague of women" as the Gazette called it4 appeared to be descending even closer to home. In February 1913 the Local Council of Women in Montreal organized a two-week Montreal Suffrage Exhibition, in March a Canadian contingent joined a mass march in Washington in favour of women suffrage,5 in April the Montreal Suffrage Association was formed,6 in May the National Council of Women held week-long meetings in Montreal and among the main topics of discussion were the suffrage and the legal status of women in Quebec.7 And in November the Montreal Herald had the audacity to publish a special woman's edition and to have women hawking it on the streets! In the midst of all this feminist activity, Bourassa took to his editorial desk, penning a series of articles partially in response to provocation on the part of a Montreal suffragette and partly to state his case in opposition to feminism and to the suffrage.8 For Bourassa feminism constituted another foreign import, spelling danger and disorder 3 for French Canada. For all his respect for British political and constitutional principles, he had no use whatsoever for this latest Anglo-Saxon export. He therefore traced feminism to its Protestant roots, lumped it with socialism, and condemned it roundly as a danger to the...