The ''Dominion Elections Act'' was a bill passed by the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in 1920, under

Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World War I. Borde ...

's Unionist government. The Act allowed white women to run for the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

. However, women from most/all minorities, for example, Aboriginals and Asians, were not granted these rights. This bill was passed due in part to the advocacy of

Nellie McClung Nellie Letitia McClung (; 20 October 18731 September 1951) was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists. She began her career in writing with the 1908 book ''Sowing Seeds ...

, a women's rights activist from Manitoba. The law established the agency now known as ''

Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...

'' with the position of Chief Electoral Officer as head of the agency.

Background

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the country was split on the issue of conscription. Ahead of the 1917 election, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

experienced splits among individual MPs. Protests erupted over the government's plan to introduce conscription in what became known as the

conscription crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (french: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also b ...

. Pro-conscription Liberals joined forces with the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

to form the Unionist Party in 1917, led by Prime Minister Robert Borden. In an effort to increase votes for the new Unionist Party, Borden granted the vote to female relatives of active-duty soldiers. The 1917 election had the highest female voter turnout out of any other election, and the Unionist Party won a safe majority, with only Quebec voting majority Liberal.

References

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* 1920 in Canadian law 1920 in women's history Canadian federal legislation Election legislation Women's suffrage in Canada {{Canada-law-stub

Background

See also

References

Citations

Sources