The struggle for voting rights is the struggle for human rights.
Historically, governments have given the right to vote
to the people who they’ve valued the most.
Typically, this included only a select few.
The majority of the population had to fight for their right to vote -
a right that, once earned, could be taken away.
The story of the right to vote in Canada is complex.
Provincial and federal franchise regulations varied widely.
This timeline provides an overview of voting rights in Canada.
Formed by five nations, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
is considered one of the earliest examples of a participatory democracy.
A confederacy of Nations is organized around bands.
Each band has a male leader responsible for decision-making.
He governs by consensus.
Made up of male representatives from across Mi’kmaq territory,
the Council is governed by a Grand Chief and rules by consensus.
The role of chieftain is often handed down from father to son.
Civil and war-related affairs are determined by respective village councils.
Decisions are reached by consensus.
All men over 30 are council members
but women have little-to-no say in council affairs.
Residents of Quebec City, Montreal, and Trois-Rivières elect syndics,
or trustees, to a colonial council responsible to the governor.
They act as liaison between residents and the council,
but have no power to affect policy as the colonies are ruled by a monarchy.
At the first elected legislative assembly in what is now Nova Scotia,
only property-owning Protestant men over the age of 21 are eligible to vote.
The first elections are held in Lower Canada.
Anyone over 21 who owns sufficient property can vote, including women.
Black people are now considered British subjects,
paving the way for property-owning Black men to vote.
But racism and discrimination at polling stations
mean many do not cast their ballots.
Legislation barring women from voting is passed by the Province of Canada
and becomes law.
The government attempts to assimilate First Nations men
by offering them the right to vote if they voluntarily enfranchise.
This means giving up rights, including treaty rights.
Only one person elects to do so under this Act.
Sir John A. Macdonald leads the Conservative Party to victory.
Men over the age of 21 who meet property qualifications can vote.
The British Columbia legislative assembly
passes a law banning Chinese Canadians from voting.
Previously, Chinese Canadian men could vote in provincial elections.
The federal Indian Act reinforces that Status Indians must voluntarily
give up Status and treaty rights to vote federally.
Status Indian women are barred from voting in Band council elections.
The original draft of the Act gave federal voting rights to some women,
but under the final legislation, only men can vote.
The Act gives some Reserve First Nations with property qualifications
the right to vote, but bars Chinese Canadians.
British Columbia amends the Provincial Voters’ Act
to remove the right to vote from Japanese Canadians.
Provinces are given the right to decide who can vote in provincial elections.
Some exclude Chinese Canadians from voting provincially.
However, federal legislation allows Chinese Canadians
to vote in federal elections.
British Columbia removes voting rights from anyone
with origins in South Asia.
Starting in Manitoba,
most women gradually win the right to vote
and hold political office on a provincial level.
The newly won franchise excludes Status First Nations women,
except in Nova Scotia.
The right to vote federally now extends to women in the armed forces
and female relatives of military men.
Citizens considered of “enemy alien” birth
and some pacifist communities are disenfranchised.
Many Canadian women are granted the right to vote in federal elections,
but First Nations women can only vote if they give up their status
and treaty rights.
Replacing the Wartime Elections Act,
this legislation restores voting rights to many who lost the vote
during the First World War.
Anyone disenfranchised provincially because of their race
is also barred from voting in federal elections.
Male Status Indian veterans of the First World War
gain the right to vote in federal elections without losing
their status and treaty rights.
Veterans of the First World War in British Columbia become
the first Japanese Canadians granted the right to vote
in federal or provincial elections.
Inuit and First Nations persons living on reserves
are disqualified from voting in federal elections,
except for First Nations veterans who had previously received the vote.
Status Indian veterans who served in the Second World War
and their spouses are permitted to vote in federal elections
without losing Status, with some conditions.
Changes to federal legislation allow Chinese
and South Asian Canadians to vote.
However, it isn’t until 1951 that the final restrictions
are lifted in provincial elections Canada-wide.
Race is no longer grounds for exclusion from voting in federal elections.
However, Status Indians still have to give up their Status in order to vote.
The last restriction on Japanese Canadians’ voting rights is lifted
when British Columbia grants them the right to vote in provincial elections.
Except in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland,
Status Indians had been barred from voting provincially.
Beginning with British Columbia,
First Nations peoples gradually win the right to vote in provincial elections
without losing status or treaty rights.
Inuit are granted the right to vote in federal elections,
but the isolation of several communities means
many cannot access polling stations.
Later reforms increase access to ballot boxes.
Changes to the Indian Act grant First Nations women
the right to vote in Band Council elections.
First Nations peoples receive the right to vote in federal elections
while retaining their status and treaty rights.
However, they are still excluded in some provinces.
Federal government services —
including all services related to federal elections—
must now be available in both French and English.
Parliament passes legislation lowering the federal voting age from 21 to 18.
This adds two million Canadians to the electoral rolls.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms affirms the right of every
Canadian citizen 18 and older to vote and stand as a candidate.
People with intellectual disabilities are granted the right to vote
after a successful Charter challenge.
Bill C-78 passes, changing the voting and electoral processes
to make them more accessible to people with disabilities.
In Sauvé v Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada holds that,
under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
all prisoners have the right to vote.
The right to vote in Canada has not been straightforward.
Voting rights were granted and taken away from groups throughout history.
Race, ethnicity, and gender were often a factor.
We must never take the right to vote for granted.