Elections

A History of Voting in Canada

Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC)

Before Confederation

In pre-Confederation times, the right to vote was reserved mainly for affluent men. The franchise was generally based on property ownership: to be eligible to vote, an individual had to own property or other assets of a specified value. Paying a certain amount in annual taxes or rent could also qualify an elector. Women were excluded from the right to vote, as were various religious and ethnic groups. In the case of women, however, the exclusion was a matter of convention rather than law.

The first legislative assembly was elected in Nova Scotia in 1758. Prince Edward Island followed suit in 1773, New Brunswick in 1785, then Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1792. Still, the power of government remained in the hands of executive council members nominated by colonial governors, who were themselves nominated by the British Crown. Council members could block any law adopted by an assembly and were in no way accountable to the electorate.

Nova Scotia again innovated in 1848, when it inaugurated the first elected responsible government in a British colony. Six years later, all colonies had responsible government. From then on, governments would have to answer to the electors.

In 1840, Governor General Lord Sydenham organized the election that would be decisive for the union of Upper and Lower Canada. To ensure that candidates supporting the union were elected, he used all of his powers as governor, commander of the army and head of government. He offered or denied government jobs and provided or withheld the army's protection to influence voters; purposefully rearranged electoral boundaries to improve his candidates' chances; and generally made it difficult for opponents to vote, sometimes by sending gangs of ruffians to polling stations.

Such practices remained commonplace until 1920, when electoral administration was entrusted to an independent officer of Parliament, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.

The Fathers of Confederation established the Constitution of 1867 that created Canada without submitting the question directly to electors. This cost federalist politicians so many votes at following elections that Prime Minister John A. Macdonald vowed not to impose Confederation on another colony without first consulting the people through the polls. When Newfoundland, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island later entered Confederation, each first held a referendum.

Since then, the relative influence of voters in Canadian parliamentary institutions has grown appreciably - to the point that politicians today are unlikely to enact any kind of fundamental changes without consulting the electorate.

Since Confederation

Canada at first had so many restrictions on the right to vote that members of Parliament spoke for a mere fraction of the population. And various forms of undue influence meant that the few people entitled to vote did not necessarily express their true preferences. That all changed eventually, but it was a long and laborious process, not always motivated by democratic principles. For example, voting rights were extended during the First World War, but only in favour of groups who were known to be supportive of the war effort.

After Confederation, the provinces initially kept the authority to determine who was entitled to vote, and each province had its own criteria. The federal Parliament took over this power in 1885, only to hand it back to the provinces 13 years later. As a result, in most federal elections between 1867 and 1920, the makeup of the electorate varied from province to province. Property requirements applied in some provinces, but not in others. Persons of Native or certain ethnic origins were allowed to vote or not, depending on where they lived. The right to vote in federal elections has been determined solely by Parliament since 1920.

In the early days of Confederation, many MPs were forced to resign due to a variety of undemocratic practices. "Elections cannot be carried without money," candidly admitted one MP. Voters were bought off with food, drink or money. Deceased electors somehow showed up to vote. Electoral lists and ballots were falsified. Priests, employers and thugs respectively promised hell, unemployment or bodily harm to those who voted the wrong way. After the 1874 election, when courts first had the authority to rule on contested elections, nearly one third of the members of the House of Commons had to resign because of election irregularities. The 1920 electoral reform contributed greatly to solving these problems.

Women property owners had sometimes voted before Confederation, but thereafter were legally excluded from voting. In the early 1900s, the women's suffrage movement emerged to change this. The "suffragists" campaigned relentlessly with petitions, lectures and various demonstrations. Undeterred by hostile public opinion and politicians, they enlisted the help of influential organizations and managed to have bills introduced in provincial legislatures to extend voting rights to women. When the bills were defeated, they had them reintroduced over and over until they were successful. In 1916, Manitoba was the first province to extend the vote to women. By 1918, women had the same right as men to vote in federal elections.

The Modern Franchise

The modern era in the history of the vote in Canada began with the adoption of the 1920 Dominion Elections Act. Discrimination that had always been present in the electoral system was gradually eliminated until the right to vote was extended to virtually every Canadian citizen and, in 1982, guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A variety of steps were taken to make voting even more accessible and convenient for all electors, including those with disabilities and those unable to go to their polling station on election day.

The Dominion Elections Act of 1920 was a breakthrough because it provided a strong legal foundation for the electoral system and created the independent office of Chief Electoral Officer. From that point on, political influence was removed from electoral administration. The Act also enabled a more professional approach to election management by centralizing financial and logistical operations. The legislation was improved many times over the years as it evolved into the current Canada Elections Act. In 1982, the legislative framework was further strengthened when the democratic principles underlying Canada's electoral system were incorporated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The right to vote became universal in principle in 1920, but significant loopholes remained. Electoral law allowed the exclusion of Native people and people of Oriental origin. In particular, Canadian citizens of Japanese origin were at one time denied the right to vote, even when they had served in the Canadian army during the war. Various religious groups were also affected. Native people could vote since Confederation, but only if they gave up their treaty rights and registered Indian status. The last of these limitations were lifted in 1960, but not without much political debate.

The number of mechanisms to ensure that all voters can exercise their franchise has increased greatly over time. Employers had to give their staff sufficient time off to vote on election day. Voting hours were extended. Advance polling and voting by postal ballot were introduced at first on a limited basis, but ultimately were made available to any voter unable to go to the polling station on election day. Level access for people in wheelchairs was provided at polling stations. Mobile polls began visiting various institutions to collect the vote. Voter information was systematically made available in both official languages, and in some Native and ancestral languages.