Discrimination Against Aboriginal People Essay

Aboriginal peoples have a long history of facing discrimination in Canada. Their political background is not expansive or lengthy in terms of voting in federal and provincial elections. All Aboriginal peoples in Canada were granted the right to vote in 1960 without enfranchisement. During the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign, Aboriginal issues, such as the housing crisis and self-government, were not forefront for the candidates, but political involvement has incrementally become important for many Aboriginal people in recent years.
The purpose of this essay is to examine the fact that there continues to be discrimination against Aboriginal peoples, as well as to argue that more political Aboriginal representation and discussions of
While all Aboriginal peoples were granted the unconditional right to vote on June 1, 1960, the Inuit population could vote by 1950. Métis and non-status Indians, however, have always had the right to vote as they were not considered wards of the state as status Indians were. However, Indigenous people still faced inequality, no matter their status. Moreover, it was not until the 1985 amendment of the Indian Act that the status of a woman was no longer tied to the husband’s status. In 1950, status Indians could gain franchise as an exchange for their tax exemption status. Until 1960, the only way in which status Indians could attain the unrestricted right to vote was through enfranchisement, which is defined by Ladner and McCrossan (2007) as “to give up or forfeit their status as Indians and take up the duties and benefits of citizenship”. While the Indian Act was a tool of assimilation by the Canadian government, status Indians lost many proclamations defined in the Indian Act through enfranchisement, such as education and social services. There was no public petition or pressure by Aboriginal peoples to obtain franchise. With the right to vote for all Aboriginal peoples in 1960, and later into the 1960s for some provinces, status Indians were not fully supportive of the decision. Regardless of their right to vote, Aboriginal peoples have faced oppression due to systemic and individual