Jane Austen’s gentle gaze will soon be lining British wallets after the Bank of England responded to months of campaigning to keep at least one historical female figure on the U.K. currency.
Mark Carney, the bank’s governor, announced last week that the famous author would replace Charles Darwin on the back of 10-pound notes. Currently, Elizabeth Fry is the only woman, apart from the Queen, depicted on the bills, but Fry will be replaced by a portrait of Winston Churchill in 2016. While female representation on British bills has drawn a lot of attention, the Bank of Canada’s latest banknote series that is being rolled out have no notable women on the new bills with the exception of the Queen.
A tradition since 1969, the Queen graces the front side of $20 bills. Former prime ministers Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Mackenzie King and Robert Borden are featured on the front of $5, $10, $50 and $100 denominations. Unlike British currency, which features a historical figure on the back of each bill, the reverse of Canadian bills have never displayed portraits of important Canadians – male or female. Instead, the Bank of Canada has opted for landscapes, birds and representations of various Canadian accomplishments.
An image of the Ottawa statue of the famous five – the group that fought for legal recognition of women as people in the 1920s – was the first and only representation of identifiable Canadians on the backs of bills. But the five women have since disappeared from the $50 bill, replaced by an icebreaker in the new plastic bills that are replacing older bills.
Veronica Strong-Boag, a historian and professor at the University of British Columbia, says that the next banknote series – which are released every 15 years – the Bank of Canada should aim to “beat the Brits” and recognize even more diversity on the bills than the British do.
“We don’t want just white women or just women from certain classes,” she said, adding that there is a wealth of important Canadians who could be considered for a spot on the bills who come from visible minority groups, First Nations communities and working classes.
Strong-Boag said, though it was difficult to choose, that if she had to choose one woman to appear on the reverse of one of Canada’s bills, it would be Pauline Johnson, an aboriginal writer and poet best known for her poem, The Song my Paddle Sings. Describing Johnson as a “counter-weight” to a majority of white, male writers and poets at the time who were exploring Canadian identity through their works, Strong-Boag said Johnson was an important figure who challenged racism in the 1880s and 1890s.
“Here she is, a First Nations mixed-raced woman who defends Louis Riel and points out that the tribes are starving in the prairies.”
Diane Watts, a researcher with REAL women of Canada, said Elisabeth Bruyère deserves a spot on Canadian currency based on her merit, not because of her gender. Bruyère was a nun in the 19thcentury who founded the Sisters of Charity, set up the first hospital in Bytown (now the city of Ottawa) and the first bilingual school in Upper Canada in 1845. Watts suggested Bruyère “because of (her) pioneering influence in hospitals and education.”
A lesser known Canadian hero, Maria Barile – an advocate for disabled women who recently died, would be a welcome addition to the country’s bills according to Bonnie Brayton, the national executive director of DisAbled Women’s Network Canada.
“She was one of the first people to look at breast-cancer screening for women with disabilities,” said Brayton, who said Barile was an advocate for disabled women’s health because she saw a number of her friends die from the disease because they were not properly screened. Barile was a founder of DAWN Canada who also made significant contributions to the prevention of violence against women with disabilities, said Brayton.
With the roll out of polymer banknotes expected to be complete this year, the Bank of Canada said it has not started looking at potential designs for the next series just yet.
“When the Bank of Canada designs a new series it consults with Canadians on what they would like to see on the new notes,” said Alexandre Deslongchamps, senior media relations consultant for the bank.
“Ultimately, the decision on future designs will fall to the Governor and the Minister of Finance, who has final say over the designs.”
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(Link to article on o.canada.com)
Fiona Buchanan 