[First national conference of the Canadian women's liberation movement]

The Militant, 4 December 1970

SASKATOON, Canada—Over the Nov. 20-21 weekend between 200 and 300 women converged on the University of Saskatoon for the first national conference of the Canadian women's liberation movement. The attendance and breadth of the conference were considered a great success by conference participants.

The conference was dominated by a debate over the nature and strategy of the women's movement, with some of the participants condemning the whole women's movement as it exists now as middle-class and liberal.

Toward the end of the conference, however, when it became clear that the conference was in essence split, a workshop was held by women who were concerned that some coordinated, common action should come out of the conference. The workshop accepted a proposal for a campaign of activities on the issue of free abortion on demand, culminating in a day of protests across Canada on Feb. 14. This was the only action proposal to come out of the conference.