The Canadian Wartime Elections Act (French: Loi des élections en temps de guerre) was a bill passed on September 20, 1917[1] by the Conservative government of Robert Borden during the Conscription Crisis of 1917 and was instrumental in pushing Liberals to join the Conservatives in the formation of the Canadian Unionist government. While the bill was an explicit attempt to get more votes for the government, it was also the first act giving women the vote in federal elections.
The Act gave the vote to the wives, widows, mothers, and sisters of soldiers serving overseas. They were the first women ever to be able to vote in Canadian federal elections and were also a group that was strongly in favour of conscription. The act also disenfranchised "enemy-alien" citizens naturalized after March 31, 1902 (unless they had relatives serving in the armed forces); this meaning primarily German, Ukrainian, and Polish Canadians (former subjects of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires). Doukhobors, only in British Columbia, were partially disenfranchised for 37 years — 1919 to 1956 — first in provincial and then in 1934 in federal elections, but not in municipal or school board elections, because politicians feared their leader could dictate them to vote en bloc to influence an election.[2][3] At the time the act was passed, it was justified through the patriotic fever surrounding World War I. While it was opposed by those who were disenfranchised and other opponents of the government, it was widely supported by the majority of Canadians.
The act was coupled with the Military Voters Act that further skewed the vote in favour of the Unionists. The two laws were effective in helping the government be re-elected in the 1917 election, but the Unionists were elected by a large enough margin that they would have won anyway. In the long run, however, the laws so alienated French-Canadians and recent immigrants that they would vote Liberal for decades, greatly hurting the Conservative Party.
After the war, the Act was repealed by the Dominion Elections Act of 1920,[4] which was enacted on June 29[5] and assented to on July 1, 1920. Most women (notably not Aboriginal women or those without property) were enfranchised as of 24 May 1918.[6]
^John English. "The Canadian Encyclopedia; Wartime Elections Act". Retrieved 2 December 2014.
^Tarasoff, Koozma J. (February 9, 2015). "Q64: Explain Doukhobor Voting Rights". Spirit-Wrestlers Blog. Doukhboor Historical Society. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
^Tarasoff, Koozma J. (February 3, 2015). "Canadian Doukhobors and Voting". Spirit-Wrestlers.com. Doukhobor Historical Society. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
The Canadian WartimeElectionsAct (French: Loi des élections en temps de guerre) was a bill passed on September 20, 1917 by the Conservative government...
laws to skew the voting towards the government. The first, the WartimeElectionsAct, disenfranchised conscientious objectors and Canadian citizens if...
Voters Act coupled with the WartimeElectionsAct with the intent of strengthening the coalition government's chances at the polls. During election campaigning...
state-sanctioned censures, including disenfranchisement under the WartimeElectionsAct. A campaign begun by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association...
The Dominion ElectionsAct (French: Acte des élections fédérales) was a bill passed by the House of Commons of Canada in 1920, under Robert Borden's Unionist...
which women have the right to vote in provincial elections. 1917 – The federal WartimeElectionsAct gives voting rights to women with relatives fighting...
an absolute majority. Although the United Party was victorious, special wartime circumstances such as soldiers on active service being allowed to vote...
regardless of the soldier's regular place of residence. With the WartimeElectionsAct, women who were the wives, sisters, daughters and mothers of men...
Britain, to vote. The act also allowed current and former Indigenous veterans to vote. In addition, the WartimeElectionsAct allowed female relatives...
their print media and the closure of German schools. The federal WartimeElectionsAct, passed in September 1917, revoked the citizenship of any German...
constitutional today. As part of a sweeping repeal of wartime laws, Congress repealed the Sedition Act on December 13, 1920. In 1921, president Woodrow Wilson...
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changed in 1917 with the WartimeElectionsAct. This act granted voting rights to women with relatives in the military. This act was a huge step for the...
Labour for ending wartime rationing and price controls too slowly and for the rise of industrial conflicts after the end of the wartime wage freeze and...
Income War Tax Act received royal assent in Canada, establishing a “temporary” tax, which remains in force to this day. The WartimeElectionsAct gave female...
audiences, some of whom had been granted the right to vote by the WartimeElectionsAct of 1917, and hence to vote on the conscription question. Beginning...
was the second election called under the General Elections (Emergency Provisions) Act 1943. The Act, intended to increase national security by minimising...
economic expansion and restore prosperity. Mellon obtained repeal of the wartime excess profits tax. The top marginal rate on individuals fell from 73 to...
Administration (WPA) during the congressional elections of 1938 provided the immediate impetus for the passage of the Hatch Act. Criticism centered on swing states...
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