"Pigeon-Holed and Forgotten": The Work of the Subcommittee on the Post-War Problems of Women, 1943

Abstract

In January 1943, a special subcommittee of the federally appointed Advisory Committee on Reconstruction was created to enquire into the difficulties likely to confront Canadian women once peace was concluded. This Subcommittee on the Post-War Problems of Women, composed of ten prominent Canadian women, presented its final report to Cabinet on 30 November 1943. It contained many proposals for improving the status of Canadian women; however, the impact of its work was weakened by its class bias, unrealistic time limits, the complicated nature of the reconstruction bureaucracy, and the lack of significant change in public attitudes toward women's role. Afin d’étudier les difficultés que devraient sans doute affronter les Canadiennes au lendemain des hostilités, on créa en janvier 1943 un sous-comité spécial du Comité consultatif de la reconstruction sociale mis sur pied par les autorités fédérales. Ce sous-comité, qui comprenait dix Canadiennes jouissant d’une grande réputation, soumit son rapport final au cabinet le 30 novembre 1943. On y trouve maintes suggestions visant à améliorer le statut de la femme, qui se heurtèrent cependant aux préjugés sociaux, à des obstacles bureaucratiques et à l’inertie de l’opinion publique à l’endroit de la condition féminine.