Women allowed into Manitoba club for 1st time in 145 years
CBC News | Posted: September 11, 2015 6:34 PM | Last Updated: September 11, 2015
A private society almost as old as Manitoba itself has opened its doors to its first-ever female members.
The board for the St. Andrew's Society of Winnipeg — the oldest continuously active Scottish society in Western Canada — approved four applications from women earlier this week. Until now, the 145-year-old society's members had been only men of Scottish descent.
Founded in 1871, the year after Manitoba became a province, the society amended its bylaws during in November 2014 to welcome women of Scottish heritage "to participate fully in the promotion and preservation of Scottish culture and tradition in Manitoba."
Society facts:
- Founding president was Donald A. Smith, later the Rt. Hon. the Lord Strathcona, and the second president was Andrew G.B. Bannatyne, one of Winnipeg's most prominent citizens.
- The society's primary purposes are the promotion and preservation of Scottish culture and tradition for the people of Manitoba and the promotion of public understanding of the Scots' role in the origins and development of the province.
- The society and its members and supporters regularly support other Scottish heritage and cultural organizations and were primarily responsible for the installation of The Scots Monument on Waterfront Drive in Fort Douglas Park, and the Settlers' Statue on Waterfront Drive at the foot of Bannatyne Avenue.