Where Nellie Performed

It’s now known as the Burton Cummings Theatre, named after the famous Canadian musician, but in 1914, it was the site of a huge suffragist success. Nellie McClung, Lillian Beynon, Francis Graham, Genevieve Lipsett-Skinner and others sang songs, performed skits and mercilessly mocked the idea that women weren’t able to vote. The Walker Theatre, as it was then called, was where the women imagined what things would be like if they were in charge and men had to plead for the vote. The audience laughed and cheered. The premier, Rodmond Roblin, was furious but suffrage couldn’t be stopped, and not long after, women in Manitoba were the first in Canada to win the right to vote.

Click to read the full comic from our February 2016 issue to learn more about the Mock Parliament.