Mining Week Celebrates 150 Years of Mining Success
British Columbia is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Gold Rush and the B.C. mining success story. May 12-18 marks Mining Week in B.C., and this year we are looking at the past and to the future.
B.C. is one of the world’s most important mining regions. Mining is one of the province’s most important industries and the mining community is leading the way in protecting the environment and the sustainable development of our natural resources.
Towards a Sustainable Future: 150 Years of Mining documents B.C.’s mining story and examines how the mining industry is embracing the future through sustainable development of our mineral resources across the province.
Towards a Sustainable Future: 150 Years of Mining 
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BC150 Celebrates Influential Women, Seniors and Elders
Mary Ellen Smith helped shape the province we live in today when she become B.C.'s first female cabinet minister, and the first in the British Empire, in 1921.
Image b_01563 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives
Mary Ellen Smith may not be a household name, but she made the history books when she became the first woman elected to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly.
Smith, originally an elementary school teacher in England, was dedicated to the women’s suffrage movement in B.C. before she became a politician. She won the by-election to succeed her husband, who was the provincial finance minister before he died in 1917.
The 1918 election marked the first time a woman’s name appeared on the provincial ballot, and it also marked the first time women in British Columbia voted in a provincial election. But Smith didn’t stop there.
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