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Florence Bird

Florence Bird was a writer for the Ottawa Journal who specialized in women’s rights. Bird also broadcasted, with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, on the exploitation of women in the work force. Bird reinforced arguments of wage equality and emphasized women's labor needs. She additionally argued that women needed to earn income because they would use that money to contribute to their families and societies. Bird used her platform of media to restate and educate the importance of women in the workforce, their financial equality, and women’s needs in prison.

Women Associated with the Royal Commission

Lester B. Pearson established the Royal Commission on the Status of Women because of the discrimination towards women and different genders. Florence Bird was president, and as president, she was given thousands of letters 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 was one of Canada’s top aeronautical engineers, which is a field typically dominated by men. After being involved in the Second World War, she was involved in the Royal Commission on the Status of Women alongside Bird in 1967. 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.