How did Women get the right to vote

Women were not given the right to vote because people believed it was too much of a
distraction from their mother or womanly duties. They also thought that women were too weak
and unstable to make such a decision. So in the 1870s groups of women came together and
formed Women's Suffrage groups. One of the key people involved in such was Dr. Emily Stowe.
Stowe was a teacher and physician but for many years she was not admitted into college
because she was a woman. Once she was finally admitted she became a teacher, then left in
1856 to go into Medicine. Yet again she was not admitted because she was a woman, however
she did eventually get in, get married, and have children. Throughout her medical career she
constantly fought for equality for men and women, fought for equal opportunity, and rights for
female workers. She also brought people together to fight for voting rights for women and the
right to their own property. In 1883 she created the Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association
where she was vice-president and also created Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement
Association. In her position she created petitions, rallies, gave speeches, and newspaper
editorials all to help women gain the right to vote. Emily passed away13 years before the first
province made it legal for women to vote. In 1916 Manitoba became the first province to allow
some women to vote, then followed by Saskatoon and Alberta in months after. Within the year
B.C and Ontario would also add women to the provincial voting list. This did not mean they
could vote in federal elections though, only during the first WW women who were serving in the
military or who had a relative serving in the armed forces became the firsts to have the
opportunity to vote in a federal election. And in 1918 parliament removed gender barriers in
voting giving women the right to vote. This did not include women of colour though. And it
wasn't until the mid-1900s where coloured women and First Nations peoples were allowed to
vote.

How did Aboriginal peoples get the right to vote

After European settlers arrived in Canada colony administrators made agreements and treaties
with the First Nation and Indigenous peoples in the areas. And within the same year, 1867, they
divided the government into federal and provincial levels and the federal government was given
responsibility of the First Nations peoples without their knowledge. Since they didn't know alot
about the people living in Canada before them they created a set of law, which is known as the
Indian Act. It was put into place in 1876, withholding rights from First Nations than many
Canadian Settlers had. Within the Indian Act rules such as not being allowed to celebrate
culture and religion, loss of legal status. Among these rules was not being able to vote if you
wanted to keep your status or you would have to give up treaty rights and Indian status. Just like
women in 1917 Indigenous people were given the right to vote if they were veterans and/or had
members of their immediate families who had served in World War I. And in 1960 First Nations
were given full voting rights under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. These rights didn't take
away their status like the previous rule. But it wasn't until 1982 that this was put in the
Constitution Act which guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms to all Canadians, now
including Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis).
How did prisoners get the right to vote

Up until 1993 prisoners and people incarcerated were not allowed to vote. In 1993 parliament
allowed prisoners serving sentences of less than two years to vote but people surviving longer
sentences still couldn't vote. This however was challenged by a prisoner surviving a 25 year
sentence. Stating that it violated their Charter of Rights. And in 2002, the Supreme Court ruled
in favour of the prisoner, granting them the right to vote. Today all prisoners no matter how long
the sentence is are able to vote for elections and referendums, as long as they are above 18
and fall under voting rights today. There are different rules that the voting prisoners must follow
like voting a day before polls open and they must right the name of the person they are voting
for instead of marking an X beside a name,

Voting rights for all today

Under section 3 - Democratic Rights “Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election
of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for
membership therein.” The 3 main rules of voting are being a Canadian citizen, must be at least
18 years old on election day, and prove your identity and address when going to vote. It doesn't
matter your race, gender, or any other factor that would have previously prevented you from not
being able to vote and being a Canadian citizen. Today, there are many different ways you can
vote (show video, don't worry about the dates)

(Side note) Bill S- 22 was proposed to make voting mandatory in response to the lower voting
turnout (in 2004) WAS NOT PASSED
This enactment amends the Canada Elections Act to
(a) make it compulsory for an elector to exercise the right to vote;
(b) make it an offence for an elector not to vote; and
(c) add the words “None of the candidates” to a ballot in order to allow an elector to indicate that
the elector does not wish to vote for any of the candidates nominated in his or her electoral
district.

Barriers that make people unable to vote

- voting registration often comes in the mail, or you can register online.
- Must have an address.
- if they go to a soup kitchen/shelter they may use that as their address
- elderly might struggle with the use of technology or getting to a polling station.
- Some people are not invested in politics or the needed information to vote.
- 76% of eligible Canadians voted
- Indegenous people living on a reserve have further to travel and can have identification issues
-