The First Federal Elections in Canada: 1867

Canada's First Members of Parliament Were Elected by Open Vote

Sep 18, 2008

Canadians have exercised their rights to vote since Confederation but in the 1800s, voting was a privilege. Few had opportunity to call out their choice in public

In the spring of 1867, the British North America Act was passed by the British parliament. The BNA Act set the provisions of the confederation of the three Canadian provinces into a federal union, using the British governmental system as the basis. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada, which then was Ontario and Quebec, divided powers, said Library and Archives Canada, “between the central Parliament and the provincial legislatures. The Federal government was responsible for… banking business, criminal law, the post office, the armed forces: the provinces could legislate… property law, contracts and local work.” And to get it all going, elections across the provinces needed to be held.

Voting a Privilege

With John A. Macdonald as leader of the Conservative Party (also known as the Liberal-Conservative Party at the time), and George Brown, the unofficial leader of the Liberal Party, the fresh, young country was ready to take steps on its own. Electing a federal government was the starting point. Votes were cast and tallied from August 7 to September 20. But the ability to vote was not a right in 1867. It was a privilege that few were given.

Property Mattered

Today, nearly every Canadian citizen 18 years of age and older can register to vote. Men and women, rich and poor, property owners and tenants, all have the franchise. Our choices are our own, with no coercion or vote-buying permitted. Circumstances were somewhat different in the mid-1800s. Well, okay – they were a lot different. Only a small percentage of the population could vote. These potential voters were men, usually with British backgrounds and they either had personal property or real property of value. In New Brunswick, for example, a man needed to have a value of $400. In Ontario, an annual income of $250 for urban dwellers would qualify one to cast a ballot. Women were not given the option to vote, nor were First Nations or black residents.

Open Ballot Voting

Elections were held by open ballot. There was no stepping behind a curtain or in privacy behind a small cardboard screen to secretly mark the chosen box. The voter was obliged to step up onto a platform and call out his choice of candidate. This method "allowed plenty of scope for intimidation, at, before and after the poll,” said NipissingUniversity. Votes could be swayed with money, liquor, threats and violence. The elections were held over a number of weeks, not on a single day as now. (Voting by secret ballot became standard in the 1870s through the Dominion Elections Act, enacted during the government of Alexander McKenzie.)

Up for grabs were 181 seats in Parliament for the new federal government. At the end of the first elections held in Canada, the Conservatives won 101 seats, the Liberal Party 62, others made up the balance. John A. Macdonald was then elected the first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada.

The copyright of the article The First Federal Elections in Canada: 1867 in Canadian Confederation is owned by Susanna McLeod. Permission to republish The First Federal Elections in Canada: 1867 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.