Helena Gutteridge

Helena began her lifelong involvement in politics and social reforms with the Women's Suffrage Movement in the United Kingdom and her engagement with the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). The WSPU was a progressive women-only organization that campaigned for female suffrage. A main theme that resonated through their activities was "Votes for Women".[15]

Through the WSPU, Helena received ample guidance and training on making persuasive and emotive public speeches. She was also widely recognized within the organization for her leadership potential and managerial skills. Throughout 1910, the sight of Helena making public speeches and staging massive processions together with other militant suffragists, such as Marie Brackenbury, became frequent scenes on the streets of London. Furthermore, Helena learned public speaking and techniques of activism from militant suffragists such as Emmeline Pankhurst.[16]

The suffrage movement by the WSPU had widespread international influence and repercussions. A member of a sub-division of WSPU told the then Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden that "We are not a national association, but an Imperial one…And these members in Canada have asked us to help them and to instruct them... We have members who have emigrated there." British suffragists sought to validate their domestic movement by incorporating the enfranchisement of women living in the greater imperial territory.[17]

As part of the WSPU's effort to vitalize the suffrage movement in Canada, Helena was sent to the westernmost region of Canada. On 8 September 1911, Helena boarded the Empress of Ireland and set sail for Quebec. Upon her arrival, she continued her journey towards British Columbia via the Canadian Pacific Railway. What was intended to be a short stay for Helena eventually turned out to be a lifelong commitment to achieve gender equality in British Columbia[4]

The central vessels of the suffrage movement in British Columbia from 1910 to 1917 included the Women's Temperance Union, the National Council of Women, the University Women's Club and the BC Political Equality League.[18] Out of all pro-suffrage political organizations, the Political Equality League, an organization that focused on achieving female suffrage, gained the most momentum among working middle-class women initially. Efforts at securing women's access to the ballot by the Political Equality League at this stage, however, were generally ineffective. To rekindle the suffrage movement, the league then branched out into smaller and more action-oriented organizations such as the British Columbia Women Suffrage League, the Women's Freedom Union and the Equal Franchise Association. Out of the three new branches, the Women Suffrage League founded by Helena Gutteridge turned out to be the most successful.[19]

Helena sought to revitalize the suffrage movement in British Columbia by founding the Women Suffrage League, and Pioneer Political Equality. The Pioneer Political Equality held frequent evening meetings for working women in the Labour Temple in downtown Vancouver, and the Women Suffrage League eventually successfully secured the right to vote for white women across British Columbia in 1917. Suffrage was not extended to women of Asian and Indian descent until after the end of the Second World War.[18] She further contributed to the suffrage movement by supporting women through co-founding the Women's Employment League and the Carvell Hall Cooperative Settlement to provide employment and shelter to women in need.[20]

Furthermore, while working to mitigate feminist issues in the labour movement, Helena also served as a columnist for the British Columbia Federationist and women's correspondent for the Labour Gazette under the federal Department of Labour.[21]

Besides pursuing feminist goals, Helena also focused on union actions and equal pay for female workers. She saw female suffrage, unionism and economic independence as interconnected movements.[22] Upon realizing the stark disparity between the wages of men and women across British Columbia in 1912, Helena joined the local Tailors' Union and later became the first female member, then treasurer and secretary of the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council between 1913 and 1921. She aimed to represent women in a male-dominated milieu through trade unions and uniting feminist and labour organizations.[21] Helena's arrival in Vancouver provided local female union movements with a timely leadership. She was involved in the formation of the Laundry Workers' Union and later the Vancouver Laundry Workers' Strike in 1918.[23]

For Helena, establishing economic equality was an essential premise to achieve political equality and genuine gender parity. She remarked that "[t]he economic value of the ballot is one of the strongest arguments in favour of votes for women"[24] and "[t]he political organization of women and the organization of women into trade unions, although two separate and independent movements, are nevertheless supplementary and necessary to each other, if the economic freedom of women is to be obtained."[25]

Economic conditions were especially harsh for women in British Columbia after a prolonged period of recession in 1912. Not only were women often the first employees to be laid off, they received significantly less wage than men and qualified for fewer government benefits. To ease the economic burden that women in Vancouver faced during this period for time, Helena organized a toy-making co-operative while pressuring the provincial government to provide more assistance for women.[26]

The toy-making co-operative officially opened in October 1914, when Christmas was just around the corner. The festive season created a demand for toys and an economic opportunity for the co-operative. By 9 November, 60 girls and women were making dolls and toys for a daily wage of $3.50. By the time Christmas arrived, the co-operative started to additionally include cooking and dressmaking as part of their services. More than 150 women were employed by the co-operative before 1914 came to an end. Located at 1027 Robson Street in Vancouver, the site of the co-operative also housed unemployed women with its unused rooms.[26]

View of the west side of the 700 Block of Granville Street

The toy-making co-operative eventually ceased to operate in February 1915, after providing jobs for nearly 500 women in Vancouver and helping 700 women to obtain meal tickets. At the peak of its operation, the co-operative expanded in scale to include a retail outlet at 700 Granville Street. Regardless of its short lifespan, the co-operative was a remarkable achievement as it solved the immediate economic hardships that many women in Vancouver faced.[26]

Helena continued to fight for economic security and equality for women by campaigning for the inclusion of equal pay for women and men in the constitution of the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council (VTLC). In 1917, she organized the Minimum Wage League, an organization that successfully obtained the Minimum Wage Bill for Women in 1918.[1]

On 1 August 1932, the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was founded in Calgary, Alberta. The CCF was a political coalition of progressive farmer, socialist and labour groups that campaigned for economic reforms to address the widespread repercussions of the Great Depression. Integration with American and European economies resulted in Canada being one of the worst hit economies with the collapse of global finance.[5]

In the same year, Helena returned to Vancouver after splitting with Oliver Fearn. A modest estimate of the total number of unemployed persons in Vancouver by June 1932 stood at 77,428. Impoverishment, shortage of appropriate city infrastructures and a surge in the number of unemployed and homeless persons prompted a political response to the severe economic condition across Canada.[27]

The CCF's solution focused on economic reforms. The socialist outlook of the CCF's Regina Manifesto aligned with the political and economic convictions of Helena. Together with many other progressive women such as Dorothy Steeves, Elizabeth Kerr, Frances Moren, Helena Gutteridge plunged into the movement and continued to work tirelessly to advance the goals of the CCF until 1942.[28]

Helena started her engagement with the CCF with subscription campaigns for The Commonwealth, an official newspaper of the CCF. In 1933, she became a campaign worker during the provincial election. Helena is often found speaking in an overcrowded living room to an audience eager to learn about the new socialist movement. The CCF's election campaign quickly picked up momentum. Seven of its members were elected into office across British Columbia and the CCF officially became the opposition party to the newly elected Liberal Party.[29]

Besides taking part in election campaigns, Helena spent most of her early years in the CCF focusing on addressing unemployment through economic reforms. She worked with other party leaders like Harold Winch, Ernest Winch, Mildred Fahrni and Sarah Colley, eventually setting up the CCF Unemployment Conference in 1934 to tackle the social problem. The conference mainly sought to organize the unemployed population and to gain more financial relief from the provincial government. The conference, however, was largely unsuccessful in establishing itself as the fundamental vessel in the restructuring of the provincial economy. Helena eventually left the conference in the fall of 1935 to join the Planning Commission of the CCF, where she became one of the key drivers behind the design of a new socialist society.[30]

Mrs. Susie Lane Clark and Alderwoman Helena Gutteridge examining a C.C.F. annual picnic brochure

Throughout her time at the CCF, Helena was not only a party leader, but also a devoted socialist who sought to reform British Columbia's economy. She wrote: "The CCF is not a party in the conventional sense, but a part of a worldwide movement of forward-thinking men and women who can visualize a world in which co-operative effort will replace the present cut-throat competition, and in which security and plenty will replace poverty and insecurity."[31]

Members of the Vancouver city council, including Helena Gutteridge

In 1937, Helena Gutterdige became the first woman elected to Vancouver City Council. During her time in office, Helena continued to defend women's rights. She vehemently protested against a proposal that requires employers to not hire married women with a working husband in order to reduce the unemployment rate in Vancouver. She also objected discriminatory policies based on race, and supported the extension of suffrage to racial minorities who have been a resident of British Columbia for at least 12 months.[32]

One of Helena's most remarkable achievements during her two and half years in office is fuelling a social housing movement in British Columbia. Throughout the 1930s, Vancouver started to experience shortage of affordable housing due to a sharp decrease in the number of new sites constructed. Helena believed that government-subsidized housing was the most effective solution to Vancouver's housing dilemma. The other city councillors, however, were reluctant to further increase the government's financial burden. Apart from the economic debris of the Great Depression, the city also had to first fund a housing program for returned soldiers and take over the mortgages of homeowners who could no longer afford their mortgages.[33]

Despite facing strong objections to her proposal, Helena succeeded in forming the Housing Committee which specialized in forming a detailed housing plan for Vancouver.[34] She also served as the Chair of Vancouver's Town Planning and Parks Committee, primarily focusing on government subsidized social housing.[1] Even though a government-sponsored housing policy did not materialize during her time in office, Helena Gutteridge set a strong foundation for British Columbia's social housing policies that were later implemented in the 1950s.[21]

The CCF was defeated in December 1939 during the provincial by-election, after both Helena and her running mate Alfred Hurry were defeated. Some blamed Helena's defeat on her blatant refusal to let the city of Vancouver pay for the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.[35] She remarked that "We shouldn't be responsible for putting on a circus from which others benefit. Let the people benefit by the show pay for it." Despite being a monarchist at heart, Helena believed that the city should be spending on the poor, the hungry and the unemployed instead of entertaining the royal couple.[35] Helena ran for re-election again in 1940 and 1941, both times without success.[36]

With no more council responsibilities, Helena diverted all her attention and energy to the CCF by chairing the Organization Committee and serving as the provincial executive of the party until her decision to move to Lemon Creek in 1942 to work as a social worker.[37]

Following the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, Canada declared war on Japan. The most gravely implicated group within Canada due to this development was Japanese Canadians. Anti-Japanese sentiments rapidly heightened across British Columbia. and many threatened to riot if the Japanese population was not removed from the coast. The federal government did little to dispel this unfounded fear of internal invasion by Japanese Canadians.[38]

The Lemon Creek Internment Camp, 1944–1945

On 16 January 1942, the Canadian government invoked the War Measures Act and created 'protected areas' where Japanese nationals and Japanese Canadians are forbidden to enter. About 21,000 Japanese nationals & Japanese Canadians were forcefully expelled from their homes and relocated to Lemon Creek.[38]

Helena took up the position as a welfare worker in Lemon Creek for the Japanese population. At this point of time in 1942, she was no longer part of the nucleus decision-making circle in the CCF and she needed to make a living through other means. As such, she welcomed the opportunity to offer humanitarian service to the Japanese population.[39]

Helena worked as a social worker in Lemon Creek from 1942 to the spring of 1945. She was dearly remembered by many residents of Lemon Creek as she dealt with the day-to-day problems that family faced and was genuinely committed to improving their standard and quality of living.[40]