Art Canada Institute 1918 milestone

Art Canada Institute used the anniversary of May 24, 1918, to point readers back to a longer Canadian story about voting rights, public memory and sculpture. In a post shared on X on May 24, 2026, the institute tied the date when women won the federal vote in Canada to Barbara Paterson’s “Women Are Persons!” monument, a bronze work associated with the Famous Five. The post connected a legal and political milestone to a piece of public art that many Canadians know from Parliament Hill and from the former $50 bill design. The history behind that pairing is more layered than a single anniversary can capture. ### Why does May 24, 1918 keep appearing in Canadian women’s history? May 24, 1918, is the date the federal government passed legislation removing gender as a barrier to voting in federal elections, according to Canadian Heritage. In a 2018 release marking the 100th anniversary, the department said the change was “an important victory” but added that “not all women were enfranchised because other barriers remained.” Canadian Heritage said the 1918 change followed earlier provincial breakthroughs, beginning with Manitoba on January 28, 1916, and then Saskatchewan and Alberta. Elections and democracy education materials in Canada also note that the struggle did not end in 1918, with exclusions persisting on the basis of race and Indian status and with Quebec women not obtaining the provincial vote until 1940. (canada.ca) ### What exactly is Barbara Paterson’s “Women Are Persons!” monument? Barbara Paterson’s “Women Are Persons!” is a bronze monument dedicated to the Famous Five — Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney, Nellie McClung, Emily Murphy and Henrietta Muir Edwards. Canadian Heritage says the work now stands on Plaza Bridge near the Senate of Canada after being relocated because of construction on Parliament Hill. (canada.ca) The monument commemorates the Persons Case rather than the 1918 suffrage law. Canadian Heritage says the Famous Five appealed a 1928 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that women were not “qualified persons” for Senate appointments, and the Privy Council reversed that decision on October 18, 1929. ### So why link a 1918 voting milestone to a monument about 1929? (canada.ca) The connection is that both dates sit inside the broader history of Canadian women’s political rights. Art Canada Institute’s anniversary post used Paterson’s monument as a visual shorthand for that longer struggle, even though the sculpture specifically memorializes the 1929 Persons Case rather than the federal franchise law passed in 1918. Barbara Paterson is closely identified with that public memory project. (canada.ca) The Canadian Encyclopedia says the Edmonton-born sculptor is “perhaps best known” for “Women are Persons!,” and that two copies were created, one for Parliament Hill and one for Calgary’s Olympic Plaza. Paterson was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2021. ### Where can people see the monument now? The Ottawa version can now be seen near the Senate of Canada on Plaza Bridge, according to Canadian Heritage. The federal page says the monument was created in 2000 and notes that Paterson also made a similar work for Calgary’s Olympic Plaza. The Calgary version has its own public history. Reporting by CBC said the Olympic Plaza monument was commissioned by the Famous 5 Foundation and unveiled in 1999. (thecanadianencyclopedia.ca) ### What should readers keep in mind about the anniversary itself? The key historical point is that May 24, 1918 marks a federal legal change, not the end of disenfranchisement in Canada. Canadian Heritage’s anniversary language and Canadian voting-rights education materials both stress that many women were still excluded after 1918. (canada.ca) (cbc.ca) The next concrete reference point is October 18, 2029, which will mark 100 years since the Privy Council’s Persons Case ruling that Paterson’s monument commemorates. Until then, the Ottawa sculpture remains publicly accessible near the Senate, and the 1918 anniversary continues to be marked each May 24. (canada.ca 1) (canada.ca 2)