Women Rally for Action 1976: Politically Engaged Feminism in British Columbia

Abstract

This article situates a 1976 feminist rally in Victoria, British Columbia, Women Rally for Action, within the context of Canada’s national feminist movement. The rally was a legislative lobbying event aimed at the newly elected Social Credit government and their cuts to the social services that supported gender equality in the province. By tracing the development of the second wave feminist movement in Canada and in BC, this article explores how the organizers of the BC rally employed a national feminist strategy of organized political pressure. In doing so, they worked towards the politicization of the women’s movement on a national and provincial level, and developed an invaluable framework for future women’s organizing in BC.