Democracy

Canada’s Tumultuous Journey from Louis XIV to Voting Rights for All

Every Canadian citizen has the basic right to vote under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Here is how it happened.

Image from Author | Written by Guillaume Huppé with the contribution of Leah Brown.

A military coup in Myanmar, repeated assaults on voting rights in the United States, and a democracy in peril in Hong Kong. These are just some of many recent world events that highlight the importance of protecting and learning about democracy, starting with the right to vote.

In Canada, the right to vote is the result of a long journey led by activists, citizens, and politicians alike. Today, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, all Canadian citizens have the basic right to vote in federal, provincial, and municipal elections. To safeguard this principle, the Parliament of Canada cannot take away or interfere with voting rights. That’s why our elections are conducted by a non-partisan agency. Last year, Elections Canada, one of the world’s first independent electoral agencies, celebrated its 100-year anniversary!

This article summarizes the incredibly tumultuous journey that led to every Canadian having the fundamental right to cast a ballot.

Depiction of Leaders from five Iroquois nations | Source: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880–1881

Pre-1600 | Participatory Democracies

Long before the arrival of Europeans and the first civil election, participatory democracies existed in North America. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is a prime example. It originally consisted of five Aboriginal nations: the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk. It later became known as the Six Nations when the Tuscarora joined the Confederacy in the early 18th century. To this day, the Haudenosaunee Grand Council of Chiefs meets to direct their national policies, making it one of the oldest democracies in the…