JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1510 West
The city of Kirkland was named in honour of Charles-Aimé Kirkland, a former member of the National Assembly who represented the West Island riding of Jacques-Cartier from 1939 to 1961. But it was his daughter, Claire Kirkland-Casgrain, who was posthumously honoured by the city last month – very nearly a century after her birth – as a trailblazer who has left an enduring legacy.
“The City of Kirkland is very proud to be linked today to Claire Kirkland-Casgrain,” said Kirkland Mayor Michel Gibson, describing her as “a pioneer of women’s emancipation in Quebec politics and a symbol of the feminist cause in Canada,” as he unveiled a photo and plaque at city hall thatnow hang alongside her father’s.
A lawyer by training, Kirkland-Casgrain decided to follow in her father’s political footsteps, entering the by-election race for her father’s seat shortly after his death in 1961. Running under the Quebec Liberal Party banner, she won, becoming the first woman to sit in the National Assembly.
A push for equality
Being the first elected female representative in the province wasn’t the only glass ceiling Kirkland-Casgrain would break.
She went on to be named Minister Without Portfolio by Premier Jean Lesage, becoming the first female cabinet minister in Quebec’s history. Over her 12-year political career, Kirkland-Casgrain served as minister of Transportation and Communications, minister of Tourism, Game and Fishing, minister of Cultural Affairs and briefly sat as acting premier in 1972.
In 1964, Kirkland-Casgrain tabled Bill 16, which expanded the rights of married women, including the right to open a bank account or sign a lease without their husbands’ consent.
In 1973, she tabled legislation that would establish the Conseil du statut de la femme – a government agency tasked with consulting the provincial government on issues related to women’s rights and gender equality.
She remained the only female MNA in the National Assembly during her 12-year tenure. The province’s second female MNA, Lise Bacon, was elected in 1973 just after Kirkland-Casgrain resigned from politics after being appointed as a provincial court judge.
An ‘object of couriosity’
Being Quebec’s first female MNA and minister came with no shortage of speculation and scrutiny.
Speaking about her time in office to Radio-Canada’s Rachel Verdon in 1978, Kirkland-Casgrain explained that she was viewed by many as an “object of curiosity,” adding that observers were just as keen to critique her clothing as her politics.
She later recalled the glances she drew on her first day in office by not wearing a hat in the National Assembly, a requirement for women at the time.
“In the beginning, the focus was on the material perspective much more than the intellectual perspective, unfortunately,” Kirkland-Casgrain had said.
A woman who dared
She commented further about overcoming the gender barrier in a 2007 interview for the National Assembly’s archives: “Some people valued me. They knew I had progress in laws concerning women at heart. But a good number of people were curious to see this woman who dared to run for a party. It was so new to see a woman who dared.”
Regardless of the detractors, Kirkland-Casgrain went on to receive many accolades for her years of public service, including being named to the Ordre national du Québec in 1985 and to the Order of Canada in 1992.
In 2012, Kirkland-Casgrain, along with fellow pioneers of Quebec’s feminist movement Idola Saint-Jean, Marie Gérin-Lajoie and Thérèse Casgrain were honoured with statues outside of the National Assembly for their advocacy for women’s rights in the 20th century.
Kirkland-Casgrain’s achievements in Quebec have blazed the trail for other women to take the plunge into provincial politics over the years. In the 2022 Quebec election, a record 58 women were elected – nearly half of the 125 seats in the province.
West Island MNA Brigitte Garceau was among the record number of women elected in 2022, and the first woman to represent the district of Robert-Baldwin since its creation in 1965. She attended the unveiling of the honour for Kirkland-Casgrain at Kirkland town hall on Sept. 6.
Kirkland-Casgrain “continues to be an inspirational figure for women who strive to advance women’s rights,” Garceau said in a statement to The 1510 West.
Kirkland-Casgrain died in 2016 at the age of 91.