jan 13, 1872 - B.C. Qualification and Registration of Voters Act (passed, 1872)

Description:

"Within a year of joining Confederation, as one of its first orders of business as a Canadian province, British Columbia passed its Qualification and Registration of Voters Act (1872) that excluded “Chinese” and “Indians” from the provincial electoral franchise. At the time the legislation was enacted, the province’s population was made up of nearly 62 per cent First Nations and Chinese people. People of British origin represented just under 30 per cent. In 1896, 'Japanese' were also excluded from the voters’ lists. Disenfranchisement was racially based."