Deceiving the Voters The new legislation not only gave Canadian citizens the right to vote but also took away this right from others. The government did not allow conscientious objectors to vote because they were anti-war and the Military Service Act exempted them from going to war. Immigrants who have entered Canada from an enemy territory in the last 15 years were not allowed to vote because of possible allegiances to their mother country. Borden, who was a Conservative, gave supporters of conscription from the Liberal party prestigious roles in the Cabinet. He did this in the hope that supporters of Liberals and Conservatives would see that their party leaders supported conscription. |
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Swaying the Vote So much controversy and division surrounded the idea of conscription that Prime Minister Borden decided to take it to a vote. Before the vote took place Borden passed 2 new legislations that would boost the chances of passing the vote for conscription. The first legislation was the Military Voters Act which allowed men and women overseas to vote. The government figured that the soldiers would vote for conscription to bring more troops over in order to help fight the war. The second legislation was the War Times Election Act, this allowed a women to vote in the Conscription Election if she was directly related to the male soldiers in the war. The government passed this legislation in the hope that the women would want more troops to help their husbands fight overseas so that they would be able to come home sooner and safer. |
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