Historical Information about Voting in Canada

by Apathy is Boring Intern Patrick Burkhard — July 19, 2007

    Ever wonder about the History of Voting in Canada and how long it took to get the vote?  Or what about some of these people you see mentioned in those Heritage Canada bits on T.V. - what are they all about anyways?  Knowing your history, no matter what the subject, is always a must.  The story remains the same here, and sadly Canada’s election history is not always a pretty one either.  It took women especially many, many years to secure the vote. On top of all of this is the fact that legally, Canada’s voting history is filled with racism and oppression.  It is good that we finally got some sense!

    A lot can be learned from this history of the vote in Canada, and even by perusing a general voting timeline.  Want to know more about how the right to vote was won and lost? 

    We have a saying at Apathy Is Boring – “don’t re-invent the wheel” – why do something when someone else out there has already done it for you?  Sound like a motto for our generation? Just kidding…
   
    Presented below are three links to awesome and informative websites about the vote.  It just depends on what you are looking for.    

http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/en/browseSubjects/votingRights.asp - This breakdown and timeline is both concise and complete.  It focuses more on the legal timeline than anything else, but is a great place to look at to see when official changes happened.  Check out the tabs on the left for more then just voting rights. 

http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=index&dir=his&lang=e&textonly=false – This is Elections Canada full breakdown – or shall I say novel – of the history of the vote.  It is extremely interesting though and chock full of cool pictures and stories.  A great historical walkthrough.

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-1450/politics_economy/voting_rights/ - Although not as complete as the two previous links, the CBC put together a really simplistic collection of important moments in voting history.  The word here is interactive with cool video clips to boot.  Enjoy!