Although Canada has come a long way in improving access to the right to vote, many still face hurdles in practicing their Charter protected right. Japanese Canadian delegates in Ottawa, 1936. No. For Indigenous people, the path to voting rights was long and difficult. No. 4. In fact, if a voter owned enough property in two or more electoral districts,9 they could actually vote multiple times in a single election!10. Even when people had the right to vote, there could still be barriers that prevented them from casting a ballot. Canadian women now have the right to vote in federal elections if they meet the same eligibility criteria as men. 134. Other factors may also be considered in drawing electoral boundaries to ensure legislatures effectively represent the diversity of Canadian society, including geography, community history, community interests and minority representation (Saskatchewan Reference, supra, at 184-185; Reference re House of Assembly Act (N.S. In Quebec, women only won the right to vote provincially in 1940, after many years of activism and advocacy. The Voting Rights through Time activity uses brief case studies of specific groups to show that not everyone has always had the right to vote. In 1916, suffrage was given to women in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Quebec was last to address the issue in 1940. In addition to voting, how can I take part in our political system? Elections Canada also began using mobile polling stations that could travel to institutions where seniors and persons with disabilities live, essentially bringing the ballot box straight to some voters. It also meant being cut off from their culture. Passions ran so high that a terrible fight broke out. ), [1991] 2 S.C.R. Afterwards, most of the remaining rebels fled to the United States. This combination of gangs and drunkenness meant that violence at polling stations was commonplace, and at least 20 people died in 20 different election riots before 1867.5 No one knows how many more were injured. By the mid‐nineteenth century, the largest single group of people who could not vote were women. Inuit obtain the right to vote in Canadian federal elections. However, these examples do not tell the whole story. We are heartily sick of being governed, ruled, judged, sentenced, imprisoned and even hanged by men and man-made laws. On the other hand, the objective of maintaining and enhancing the integrity of the electoral process has been recognized as a pressing and substantial objective for limiting section 3 rights (Harvey, supra, at paragraph 38; Figueroa, supra at paragraph 72). 203). Between 1988 and 1993 changes were made to address the exclusion of persons with a mental disability from voting. It’s all a far cry from the days where there was only one polling station that could take more than a day to travel to.19. In addition, whichever body is tasked with drawing boundaries must be permitted to balance voter parity against the other applicable factors to ensure the boundaries reflect effective representation (Reference re House of Assembly Act (N.S. Evidence of a scientific nature may not always be required to justify limits on s. 3 rights. It does not give legal advice. This was happening at a time when European women were almost completely excluded from participation in politics.2. While residence is an important organizational mechanism for the purposes of the right to vote, residence is not an essential or implicit requirement of the right to vote under s. 3 of the Charter (Frank, supra, at paras. 28 (N.W.T.S.C.) However, relative equality of voting power is of prime importance under section 3 and a first condition of effective representation (Saskatchewan Reference, supra, at 183; Raîche, supra, at paragraph 30; Reference re Electoral Divisions Statutes Amendment Act, 1993 (Alta.C.A. You can also request to vote at home if you cannot go to a polling station or mark your ballot due to a disability. No. The courts have recognized the interrelationship between section 3 and other Charter rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and equality (Figueroa, supra). Black women participated in the women’s suffrage movement and in the fight for full political inclusion, including the right to hold public office. 28-32; 61; Figueroa, supra at paragraphs 31-37; Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer), [2002] 3 S.C.R. Enfranchisement and protecting the integrity of the democratic process are central purposes of the Canada Elections Act (Frank, supra, at para. Starting in the 1870s, Canadian labour activists called for an end to property requirements in voting.8 Property requirements were eliminated from federal elections in 1920, but in some places, they stuck around for a very long time. (Japanese, Chinese and other Asian Canadians can vote federally, no matter which province they live in.). The interrelated and sometimes conflicting values which Canada’s electoral system must balance include “certainty, accuracy, fairness, accessibility, voter anonymity, promptness, finality, legitimacy, efficiency and cost”, with the central value being the Charter right to vote (Opitz, supra at paragraph 44). Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.
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