The Ballot
by Catherine Goodwin
included in
Beginnings:
Stories of Canada’s Past:
published
by
Ronsdale Press
(edited and
introduction by Ann Walsh)
A Bit of
Background
I wrote "The Ballot" during an election campaign. While modern-day candidates
were busy knocking on doors in my neighbourhood, I was squirreled away in
the public library, reading past copies of the Free Press to discover the
issues their earlier counterparts faced.
Elizabeth McLennan and her father Alistair are fictitious characters. But
the beliefs expressed by Elizabeth’s father in "The Ballot", were widely held
at one time in Canada. And the election at which Elizabeth cast her first
ballot actually occurred across Ontario on October 20, 1919. It was the
first Provincial election in which the women of Ontario were permitted a
vote.
