Voting rights of Canadian Indigenous peoples
Voting rights for Canadian Indigenous peoples have a complex history shaped by legislation, treaties, and government policies aimed at assimilation. For much of Canadian history, Indigenous communities were largely disenfranchised, with access to the ballot being denied through the Indian Acts and various property and residency requirements. Prior to 1960, Indigenous peoples faced numerous barriers that limited their voting rights, including the need to apply for enfranchisement, which often required relinquishing their Indian status and associated benefits.
While some Indigenous individuals were able to vote in isolated instances before confederation in 1867, these opportunities were sparse and often came with restrictive conditions. The situation began to change post-World War II, when certain groups, such as Indigenous veterans, started to gain voting rights. By 1960, federal legislation finally permitted all Indigenous Canadians to vote, regardless of their status or residency.
As of the twenty-first century, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples actively participate in various levels of government elections as both voters and candidates, reflecting a significant shift in the acknowledgment of their rights. The passage of the First Nations Election Act in 2015 further reinforced these voting rights, ensuring greater representation and participation in the political process.
Voting rights of Canadian Indigenous peoples
- SIGNIFICANCE: The special rights granted to Indigenous Canadians by treaties and by the various Indian Acts of Parliament were long given as reasons to deny the ballot and other citizenship rights to Canada’s Indigenous population.
The history of Indigenous voting rights in Canada is linked to government attempts to use the Indian Acts and other forms of coercion to assimilate Indigenous Canadians into white society. These attempts were unsuccessful; most Indigenous Canadians remained disenfranchised until 1960. Prior to confederation in 1867, there had been some isolated instances in which Indigenous peoples in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia voted, but because of restrictive voter qualifications, Indigenous peoples were, by and large, barred from the polls. After confederation, Indigenous peoples were prevented from voting both by statute and by requirements of residence or property ownership.
The Indian Acts, the British North America Act, and various treaties established clear distinctions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, providing benefits to and restrictions on Indigenous peoples. The treaties obligated the government to pay annuities to all Indigenous peoples. One of the most valued benefits of the Indian Acts was the exemption from taxation for any Indigenous person living on a reserve. This exemption prevented the complete loss of Indigenous lands through forfeiture, but it also prevented Indigenous peoples from obtaining full citizenship rights in Canada.
The Indian Acts provided a mechanism for Indigenous peoples to become Canadian citizens: enfranchisement. Indigenous people deemed to be of good moral character, who could read and write French or English, and who were free of debt could apply for enfranchisement. Choosing to become enfranchised, however, meant giving up all the benefits of Indian status as recognized under the Canadian government, including the right to live on reserve land, annuity payments, and exemption from taxation. It was in the interest of the government to enfranchise as many Indigenous people as possible, and enfranchisement was a stated goal of the Indian Acts. Few Indigenous people, however, opted for enfranchisement. Between 1867 and 1920, only 102 individuals did so. A 1920 amendment to the Indian Act made it possible for the superintendent general for Indian affairs to enfranchise people involuntarily, and activists were sometimes threatened with the stripping of their Indian status as recognized and defined by the Canadian government. One noted example of this is the case of Frederick Ogilvie Loft, who founded the League of Indians of Canada in 1918. Loft lobbied for Indigenous civil rights, including Indigenous control of band funds and the right to vote. To silence him, the Department of Indian Affairs informed Loft that it was considering his enfranchisement. The League of Indians ultimately floundered, but not before the involuntary enfranchisement provisions of the Indian Act were repealed when the Liberals assumed control of Parliament in 1921.
The Elected Councils
At the same time that Indigenous individuals were barred from voting in provincial and federal elections, they were forced to elect band councils and chiefs. Claiming to provide Indigenous peoples with modern institutions of local government, Parliament passed the Enfranchisement Act of 1869. The act forbade traditional methods of leadership selection and imposed municipal-type councils on Indigenous bands. Like non-Indigenous elections of this time, this limited franchise was extended only to men. For the members of the Six Nations, whose leaders were traditionally chosen by women, this was a supreme violation of their sovereign rights. Many bands resisted Ottawa’s interference in local politics and continued to choose leaders by traditional methods or to elect traditional leaders. The statute was relaxed in 1880 to make elected band councils voluntary, but the passage of the Indian Advancement Act in 1884 made them mandatory once again. The 1884 act also permitted the superintendent general or their agent to depose any chief or council member deemed unfit to serve. Thus, although Indigenous peoples were required to elect leaders, they were often denied the leaders that they had chosen.
The Franchise Act of 1885
For the first eighteen years after confederation, there were no federal election laws in Canada. Voter eligibility was determined by provincial statutes, which barred Indigenous peoples from the polls on either racial or class grounds. The Conservative government of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald introduced the Franchise Act in 1885, establishing the first federal franchise criteria. Careful to preserve the rights of the wealthy, Macdonald’s legislation established strict property ownership guidelines for voters. Looking for likely Conservative voters, Macdonald extended the franchise to Indigenous men living on reserves in Eastern Canada if they possessed and occupied a distinct tract of land valued over $150. It appears that many eligible Indigenous peoples feared that this was merely a scheme to deprive them of their exemption from taxation and thus dispossess them of their land. Macdonald responded that they need to have no such fear. Voting privileges for Indigenous peoples were short-lived. However, the Liberals, led by Wilfrid Laurier, gained power in 1896 and repealed the Franchise Act. No separate federal franchise was reestablished until 1920. Indigenous peoples living on reserves were barred from voting.
Since 1917
Many Indigenous peoples enlisted in the Canadian armed forces during World War I. In recognition of their service, Indigenous veterans were granted the vote in 1917, along with all other members of the armed forces and non-Indigenous women who had male relatives in the armed forces. The franchise was extended to all white women the following year.
In 1920, while specifically excluding Indigenous peoples living on reserves, the federal government granted the franchise to Métis people. There were no significant changes in Indigenous Canadians' access to the polls until after World War II. The wives of Indigenous veterans were granted the vote in 1948. In 1950, Indigenous peoples who waived their immunity from taxation were permitted to vote. That same year, the Inuit were granted the franchise because they were not deemed wards of the state or exempt from taxation. It was not until 1960 that all Indigenous Canadians, regardless of status or residence, were permitted to vote in federal elections.
The ten provinces and two territories of Canada varied considerably regarding Indigenous voting rights. British Columbia granted the franchise to Indigenous residents in 1949. Newfoundland permitted Indigenous and Inuit peoples to vote when it entered the confederation that same year. Manitoba granted the vote to Indigenous peoples in 1952, followed by Ontario in 1954. The franchise was extended to the Indigenous people of Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories in 1960 and to those in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick three years later. Quebec withheld voting privileges from Indigenous people until 1969. Although there were never any specific proscriptions against Indigenous enfranchisement in Nova Scotia or the Yukon Territory, requirements of residency or property effectively kept Indigenous people from the polls until the middle of the century.
In the twenty-first century, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples participate in federal, territorial, provincial, and local elections as voters and candidates. In 2005, the first female First Nations senator, Sandra Lovelace Nicholas of the Maliseet Nation, was appointed to Canada’s Senate, and in 2008, Eva Aariak became the first female Premier of Nunavut. The First Nations Election Act of 2015 further solidified Indigenous voting rights.
Bibliography
Anuik, Jonathan. First in Canada: An Aboriginal Book of Days. Canadian Plains Research Center P, 2011.
Courtney, John C. Elections. UBC P, 2004.
Campbell, Kathryn M., and Stephanie Wellman. Justice, Indigenous Peoples, and Canada: A History of Courage and Resilience. Routledge, 2024.
Dickason, Olive Patricia, et al. Indigenous Peoples within Canada: A Concise History. 5th ed., Oxford UP, 2023.
Greene, Ian. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: 30+ Years of Decisions That Shape Canadian Life. Lorimer, 2014.
"Indigenous Suffrage: Timeline." Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/indigenous-suffrage. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
Thurston, Isabella. "Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Vote." Indigenous Foundation, www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/indigenous-peoples-and-the-right-to-vote. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.