Series S2 - Political Action Collective (PAC)

The Political Action Collective (PAC) of the Ottawa Women’s Centre was created in 1978. The Ottawa Women’s Centre had carried out various activities before the PAC’s creation. However, as the work of the Centre increased, PAC was formed to take on the political work.
“The group operated as a collective, practicing rotation of leadership, consensus decision-making, respect for each other, equal speaking time. This latter ideal had been the impetus for some of us to form the PAC. We wanted to work in a closed group with feminists of like mind. […] Inspired by American feminists, in particular the New York group Women’s Liberation (later Redstockings), we self-defined as radical feminists and were woman-identified.” (Wendy McPeake, letter of the May 31, 2016).
The series consists of records related to some collective’s actions. It contains records on the 1978 International Women’s Day demonstration (March 8, 1978). It includes records on the aftermath of the International Women’s Day demonstration, on March 10, 1978, a spontaneous picket (“reportage not garbage”) protested the CBC’S coverage. The series concerns also the August 25, 1978 event, inspired by British feminists, where women took to the streets in the first “Reclaim the Night” demonstration in Canada. It contains records on the conference on Feminist Assumption held on March 10, 1979, records on the display of “50 How Comes” an action to critique the 50th anniversary of Person’s Day at Ottawa City Hall, in September 1979. Finally, the series includes records on the “For Every Woman Raped in Every War” action for Remembrance Day, November 11, 1979.