When Wes McClung's job required him to move to Edmonton,
Nellie McClung felt that she was giving up the political
career she was sure to have had in Manitoba. She had
campaigned vigorously on the behalf of the Liberal party,
was sure it would soon be in power, and that when women
received the vote, she would easily be elected to the
Manitoba Legislature. There were even predictions that she
would be invited to cabinet.
While the prospect of political office excited her, at
times she feared that if she were elected, for her to fail
would be to undo all the work that she had done. She knew
that while a man would be judged as an individual, a woman
would be judged as a representative of all women, creating
an unfair sense of pressure on any woman who ventured into
politics.
It was with a little sadness and some measure of relief
that McClung contemplated her withdrawal from political life
to devote herself to her career as a writer—or so she
thought.
She did not count on the fact that her reputation would
precede her to Alberta, and she soon threw herself into the
Temperance Movement, as well as the Edmonton Equal Franchise
League, the Women's Canadian Club, and the Canadian Women's
Press Club.
Upon her introduction to Emily Murphy a warm relationship
developed between the two, with McClung looking to Janey
Canuck for advice on her writing. |