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The Military Voters Act
This was after World War I and gave all Canadian soldiers the right to vote. The main cause for the creation of this act was so that the Union Party could utilize the enlarged military presence in the country. This allowed the soldiers to vote regardless of what time period it was that their resided in the country. This was a way to also pursue people to join the military and provide mandatory service. -
Women Become Eligible to Vote in Federal Election
Unfortunately this did not include any Asians or indigenous people. Women often were thought as weaker due to the motherly nature. Often times women were seen as property to the men. With the western provinces leading the charge, women slowly grew the opportunity to run for offices and other positions. Groups such as the National Council of Women were also able to form, helping women find their place in the workplace that was filled with men. -
Chinese-Canadians Are Given the Right to Vote
After World War II, Canada signed the United Nations Charter of Human Rights and thus had to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act. This was also to honor the approximately 500 Chinese-Canadian soldiers who fought in the war for Canada. Originally the Chinese were taken advantage of during the production of the railway but the negative opinions changed to positive ones as the war proceeded. -
Indigenous People Are Given the Right to Vote
This even allowed status Indians the federal right to vote without losing their Indian status. Many of the Indigenous were initially very skeptical of this change in the law. They feared that they would lose their historic rights. The rights of indigenous women came even later. With the Inuit also not being able to vote until 1999 not all groups were included in this change of the law. -
All Prisoners Are Given the Right to Vote
Initially, prisoners did not have the right to vote be protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms but that was later appealed to include prisoners who were serving sentences of less that two years. However it quickly became apparent to the people and to the court that is was still defying the Charter and in 2002 under the supervision of Sauvé v. Chief Electoral Officer, all prisoners no matter their sentence were allowed to vote
