Nellie McClung was born Nellie Letitia Mooney in Ontario in 1873. At seven years old, she moved to Manitoba where she would grow up and begin to sow the seeds of many incredible political contributions later in life. At just sixteen years old, she began teaching at a school near Manitou, Manitoba and through her connections there, became involved in several emerging social reform groups. She joined the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to help stop the problems associated with alcohol abuse, and this lead to a passionate interest in the women’s suffrage movement as well.

When Nellie was 23 years old, she married Wesley McClung, with whom she would raise five children. The family moved out of rural Manitoba and into Winnipeg in 1911, where Nellie continued to fight for social change. In addition to the WCTU, Nellie joined several other reform groups focused on the advancing women’s suffrage movement, and as a founding member of the Political Equality League.

But Nellie is most remembered for her fight to get women the vote. In 1914 she and other members of the Political Equality League staged a mock parliament, which turned the tables, satirizing the dangers of allowing men the right to vote. The play was entertaining and effective; it began a turn of the tide for the government of the day in the province. In 1916 Manitoba was the first province to grant women the right to vote, and the province of Saskatchewan followed quickly.

Even after that victory, and throughout her life, Nellie kept fighting for human rights and social reform. She campaigned for the rights of Aboriginal and Asian women. She pleaded with the Canadian government to accept European immigrants during the Second World War. Nellie remained a driving force in Canadian politics until her death in 1953.