Voting in Canada: How a Privilege Became a Right

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Topic spans: 1945 - 2004

Voting in Canada: How a Privilege Became a Right

In Canada's early days, only a select group of privileged men could vote. Now it's a fundamental right for all Canadians over 18. Women, Asians, native people and prisoners were among those who gained the right to vote in Canadian elections over the past century — often amid controversy. CBC Archives explores the evolution of voting rights in Canada.

10 television clips

9 radio clips

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Diefenbaker and the native vote

Broadcast Date: Nov. 10, 1971

"I felt it was so unjust that they didn't have the vote," says John Diefenbaker. "I brought it about as soon as I could after becoming prime minister." Diefenbaker is talking about native Canadians, who couldn't vote in Canadian elections without giving up their treaty rights until 1960. In this clip, we see Diefenbaker in a ceremonial headdress, and hear him discuss the importance of involving natives in Canadian politics.

Diefenbaker and the native vote

• Aboriginals — known largely as "Indians" at the time — were actually given the right to vote at Confederation (1867), but it was conditional. They had to give up their treaty rights and Indian status in order to get the vote. Very few natives were willing to give up their status and treaty rights, however, just to vote in a political system that was still very alien to them.

• Giving up their status and treaty rights meant they had to give up their claims to land and resources, as well as tax exemptions, as specified in the original treaties negotiated between natives and the Canadian federal government between 1871 and 1921.

• Like the Chinese, a number of aboriginal Canadians served in the Second World War. This led many Canadians to believe it was time to grant them all the vote with no strings attached. In 1948, a parliamentary committee recommended that all "status Indians" be given the vote, but this didn't occur until Prime Minister John Diefenbaker pushed for it 1960.

• Diefenbaker had long been dedicated to the idea of giving status Indians the right to vote federally. In One Canada, Diefenbaker's memoirs written in the mid-'70s, he wrote about meeting many Indians as a child. As a result of this contact, he said, he committed himself to one day getting them the right to vote.
• Diefenbaker's government granted status Indians the right to vote (without having to give up their treaty rights) on March 10, 1960.

• As of 1960, there were no remaining voting rights restrictions based on race or religion in Canada.
• After aboriginals in Canada got the vote, there was still some question among non-native Canadians over whether aboriginals really wanted the vote. In a 1968 CBC Radio report, Edmonton Journal writer John Barr comments on how "Alberta Indians" were being dragged into the upcoming provincial election. "The new Indian voter is the reluctant dragon of Alberta politics," he said.

• In the 2000 federal election, the turnout for aboriginal voters on reserves was less than 50 per cent. By comparison, the overall Canadian voter turnout was 61.2 per cent. A 2004 CBC online report described several prevailing theories on why aboriginal voter turnout tends to be low. One is that a larger proportion of aboriginals are poverty-stricken or lack post-secondary education. Also, in the eyes of many aboriginals, native concerns aren't a big enough focus of Canadian politicians' campaigns.

Diefenbaker and the native vote

Medium: Television

Program: The Tenth Decade

Broadcast Date: Nov. 10, 1971

Guest(s): John Diefenbaker, Alvin Hamilton

Duration: 0:49

Last updated:
Nov. 16, 2004

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