Voting
| Year | Act | Proposer/Party | Effect | Impetus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Dominion Franchise Act | Macdonald (Conservative) | Standardizing voting rules federally | federal-provincial mixup was confusing, also racism so they excluded non-whites/indigenous |
| 1898 | Revocation of DFA | Laurier (Liberal) | Return control to the provinces | provinces were getting mad |
| 1917 | Wartime Elections Act | Borden (Conservative) | Strategically enfranchise women to get support for the war | WWI conscription crisis |
| 1918 | Canada Elections Act | Borden (Conservative) | Gender parity | suffrage movements (eg. Canadian Women’s Suffrage) |
| 1920 | Dominion Elections Act | Mackenzie King (Liberal) | Standardize federal rules, remove most restrictions (near-universal) - Whites and non-Status Indians | needed to formalize and standardize voting rules, and they wanted democratic legitimacy after the war |
| 1947 | Canadian Citizenship Act | Mackenzie King (Liberal) | Defined Canadian citizenship (which includes immigrants) - Minorities (Chinese, Japanese, South-Asian) | Canada wanted distinct nation-state. Post WWII anti-discrimination sentiment, and minorities wanted rights |
| 1949 | Amendment to Indian Act | Laurent (Liberal) | Indians can vote without giving up Indian status | Pressure from Indigenous organizations, and post-war was still pro-civil rights |
| 1960 | Canadian Bill of Rights | Diefenbaker (Liberal) | Protect rights, including voting equality, and removes discrimination (excludes prisoners) - All minorities | Global civil rights awareness |
| 2002 | Amendment to Canada Elections Act | Crétien (Liberal) | Modernizing voting (eg. from abroad), as a side-point it includes prisoners | The prisoner thing was due to court challenges, and also international human rights norms |