"The right to vote is one of the great privileges of a democratic society, for after all it is you the people, who determine into whose hands the guidance of public affairs may be entrusted," said John G. Diefenbaker in June 1962. The people whom make the decisions in Canada, are voted in by the citizens. This paper will examine why voting rights is a big reason why Canada is the amazing country it is today. Some defining voting rights in Canadian history were when women, people of different ethnicities, and people of different religions were granted the right to vote. They are big parts of the history that makes Canada who we are today.
One of the biggest moments in Canadian history would be when women gained the right to vote. The first …show more content…
In 1948, disqualifications because of a person race were eliminated from federal elections. When the Second World War was done, Canadians started to realize just how much they had mistreated minority groups, and attitudes started to reverse. Before the racial restrictions were gone, there was a lot of bad things happening to the minorities of Canada.ix Hugh Guthrie, the solicitor general in 1920, agreed with enfranchisement, which is when native persons lost their Indians statuses to the Indian Act. He thought that being a citizen did not carry the right to vote with it. He thought it was the governments choice on who voted and who did not. That no one can just vote from just becoming a citizen. (Debates, 29 April 1920, …show more content…
Few were willing to do this. Metis and Inuit people were not covered by treaties, so they were not excluded. The Aboriginals did not want to be assimilated into non- Aboriginal society. Voting in Canadian elections would mean participating in a government that was alien to traditions, conventions and practices of their people. They already had their own system for choosing leaders and governing themselves. Thus, until the government of Canada extended the vote to Indian persons in 1960, there is little evidence that they wanted
One of the biggest moments in Canadian history would be when women gained the right to vote. The first …show more content…
In 1948, disqualifications because of a person race were eliminated from federal elections. When the Second World War was done, Canadians started to realize just how much they had mistreated minority groups, and attitudes started to reverse. Before the racial restrictions were gone, there was a lot of bad things happening to the minorities of Canada.ix Hugh Guthrie, the solicitor general in 1920, agreed with enfranchisement, which is when native persons lost their Indians statuses to the Indian Act. He thought that being a citizen did not carry the right to vote with it. He thought it was the governments choice on who voted and who did not. That no one can just vote from just becoming a citizen. (Debates, 29 April 1920, …show more content…
Few were willing to do this. Metis and Inuit people were not covered by treaties, so they were not excluded. The Aboriginals did not want to be assimilated into non- Aboriginal society. Voting in Canadian elections would mean participating in a government that was alien to traditions, conventions and practices of their people. They already had their own system for choosing leaders and governing themselves. Thus, until the government of Canada extended the vote to Indian persons in 1960, there is little evidence that they wanted