Bank of Canada
Examples of polymer bank notes. Finance minister Bill Morneau has expressed support for having iconic women on Canadian banknotes.Canada’s finance minister, Bill Morneau, started a national conversation about depicting “iconic” women on the country’s banknotes, an issue which Bank of Canada says it is taking seriously.
There are currently no identifiable Canadian women on the new polymer series of banknotes.
The only woman currently featured on a banknote is the Queen, whose portrait appears on the $20 note.
The previous series’ $50 note featured the Famous Five, women who campaigned for women’s rights in Canada in the 1920s, and Thérèse Casgrain, a Quebec feminist and senator.
An Arctic icebreaker is now in the place of these women’s images on the $50 bill.
The Famous Five and Thérèse Casgrain design stopped being printed in 2011 when the polymer series was introduced.
However, the next series may feature Canadian women with support from Morneau, who has final say on the Bank of Canada’s designs.
“I can say that I would be strongly supportive of a recommendation from the Bank of Canada to put an iconic woman or women on the banknote,” Morneau said earlier this month while speaking to reporters in Toronto.
Support for iconic women on the notes is also coming from a petition currently circulating online to “add women from Canadian history to Canadian banknotes.” The petition currently has more than 70,000 signatures.
However, the removal of the Famous Five and Thérèse Casgrain design is not a step backward, according to those who originally petitioned for them to be on the notes.
“We were delighted that we were on for so long,” says Isabel Metcalfe, chair of Famous 5 Ottawa, a group encouraging women to become “nation builders” in the legacy of the Famous Five.
“They had a long, long run and they were very popular. And we worked very hard to get them and that was very successful,” says Metcalfe.
The Famous Five were a group of Alberta women who took on the Supreme Court of Canada in the late 1920s to have women legally be considered as “persons” which would allow women to join the senate.
Although they lost their case, they left a legacy of fighting for female political equality in Canada.
Some of Metcalfe’s picks of iconic women for the next banknote series are Beverley McLachlin, the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, figure skater Barbara Ann Scott, 1948 winner of an Olympic gold medal and alpine skier, Nancy Greene Raine, 1968 Olympic gold and silver medallist and now a Conservative senator.
Metcalfe says these are only a few among many iconic Canadian women to choose from.
Other opinions shared on Twitter under the hashtag, #showherthemoney, produced names such as Canadian artist Emily Carr, the War of 1812 heroine Laura Secord and Canada’s first female astronaut, Roberta Bondar.
The Bank of Canada is currently working to ensure the issue of women on banknotes is being addressed, it says.
“Ensuring that the diversity of Canadian society, culture and achievements are celebrated on banknotes, including the recognition of women, is an issue the Bank of Canada takes seriously,” says a recent email statement sent by the bank.
In 2014, the Bank of Canada reviewed its design process and concluded it will have more consultation with the public for the next series of banknotes.
“We are committed to an extensive and open consultation process and to designing bank notes that have broad appeal and reflect the diversity of our country,” the statement said.
The Bank of Canada also says it is going to start redesigning the notes more frequently. The next redesign is planned for sometime around 2019.