Aliya Hinton

My grandmother, Cathy Anne Paul, was born on January 12th, 1956. She grew up in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, with her two sisters, father, and her mother, who quit her job after she got married to be a housewife. Cathy enjoyed playing with her mother's make-up—especially her mother’s lipstick, but enjoyed climbing trees as well. However, at school, her interests were limited by their rule that made boys learn how to woodwork, while she and the girls focused on cooking and knitting. When she began attending Glen Forest High School in Mississauga, Canada, she was able to focus on her favorite subjects such as math and geography.

Her father was very excited for her to vote because he always encouraged her to be more active in the community, and to learn about politics. When she voted in 1974 at 18 years old, she was very excited to vote for the first time. To choose the person to vote for, she would look for the person that she believed would benefit the country for the best, and that would be fair and open to women. When she voted, it wasn’t unusual for women to vote as much as it would have been 20 years before, and so there were as many women as men.

When she was able to vote, many people still decided not to vote, including her parents. One year, her parents didn’t want to vote because they couldn’t choose someone to vote for. However, she ultimately convinced her parents to vote that year, because she believes that it is very important for people to vote. She gets frustrated when people don’t vote, because she thinks no one should be able to complain about politics if they haven’t even voted in the first place.