List of electoral firsts in Canada explained

This article lists notable achievements of women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and gay/lesbian/bisexual and transgender people in Canadian politics and elections in Canada.

This list includes:

Women

First women in cabinet

Mary Collins[4]

(New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan have not yet had a female premier.)

People with disabilities

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender

See main article: List of the first LGBT holders of political offices in Canada.

Indigenous people in Canada

Year that status Indians were granted the right to vote in federal elections: 1960. Year that status Indians were granted the right to vote in Quebec provincial elections: 1969[21]

Acadians

Arab Canadians

Armenian Canadians

Black Canadians

Chinese Canadians

Croatian Canadians

Czech Canadians

Dutch Canadians

Filipino Canadians

German Canadians

Greek Canadians

Hungarian Canadians

Icelandic Canadians

Iranian Canadians

Italian Canadians

Japanese Canadians

Jewish Canadians

See also: List of Jewish Canadian politicians.

Korean Canadians

Latvian Canadians

Macedonian Canadians

Maltese Canadians

Muslim Canadians

Norwegian Canadians

Polish Canadians

Portuguese Canadians

Russian Canadians

Slovak Canadians

South Asian Canadians

Note: Hardial Bains was the first South Asian Canadian to lead a political party. He founded and led the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada from 1970 to 1997

Tamil Canadians

Ukrainian Canadians

Vietnamese Canadians

Elections

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Wikipedia: "Women in Canadian politics"
  2. https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/03/10/toronto_pioneer_mostly_forgotten.html Biography, Toronto Star, by Mark Maloney
  3. Web site: Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell (1947 –) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051212144402/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/k_campbell.htm . 12 December 2005 . dead.
  4. Web site: Mary Collins (1940 –) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051212142834/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/m_collins.htm . 12 December 2005 . dead.
  5. Web site: Tilly Jean Rolston (1887–1953) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218144458/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/t_j_rolston.htm . 18 December 2005 . dead.
  6. News: Chrystia Freeland named Canada's first female finance minister. BBC News. 18 August 2020.
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20051212141441/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/n_hodges.htm Women in BC Politics
  8. Web site: Rita Johnston (1935 –) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218142051/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/r_johnston.htm . 18 December 2005 . dead.
  9. Web site: Grace McCarthy (1927 –) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218142843/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/g_mccarthy.htm . 18 December 2005 . dead.
  10. Web site: Mary Ellen Smith (1863–1933) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051217222715/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/m_e_smith.htm . 17 December 2005 . dead.
  11. Web site: Nora Arnold (1891–1953) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218150841/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/n_arnold.htm . 18 December 2005 . dead.
  12. Web site: Helena Gutteridge (1879?–1960) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218132733/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/h_gutteridge.htm . 18 December 2005 . dead.
  13. Web site: Helen Gregory MacGill . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218145137/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/h_g_macgill.htm . 18 December 2005 . dead.
  14. Web site: Beverley McLachlin (1943 –) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051212145858/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/b_mclachlin.htm . 12 December 2005 . dead.
  15. Web site: Iona Campagnolo (1932 –) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051215073350/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/i_campagnolo.htm . 15 December 2005 . dead.
  16. "Gay person running for Board of Education". The Body Politic, Vol. 29 (December 1976/January 1977), p. 5.
  17. "Gays gain despite Tory triumph". The Body Politic, Vol. 35 (July/August 1977). p. 10.
  18. [Robin Hardy (Canadian writer)|Robin Hardy]
  19. "Gay candidate loses in school board race". The Body Politic, Vol. 49 (December 1978/January 1979), p. 12.
  20. Web site: Blake Desjarlais is Canada's first Two Spirit Canadian MP: 'We're starting to see ourselves more' Globalnews.ca. 2021-09-25. Global News. en-US.
  21. http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp175-e.htm Aboriginal People: History of Discriminatory Laws
  22. https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/937584 Son of slaves changed the face of Toronto as first black councillor
  23. https://web.archive.org/web/20060709203728/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/Trivia/trivia.asp?lang=E&cat=ef&hea=firsts&subcat=Hoc Parliament of Canada, List of ethnic origins of MPs
  24. Web site: Rosemary Brown (1930–2003) . www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218153133/http://www.mcaws.gov.bc.ca/whm/pioneers/r_brown.htm . 18 December 2005 . dead.
  25. Web site: Unit 8: The Post War Years . www.qesn.meq.gouv.qc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040825000206/http://www.qesn.meq.gouv.qc.ca/mpages/unit8/u8p171.htm . 25 August 2004 . dead.
  26. https://web.archive.org/web/20040825000430/http://www.qesn.meq.gouv.qc.ca/mpages/unit8/u8p167.htm Black Canadian History
  27. https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Profile?personId=7555 Philippe Gigantès – Parliament of Canada biography
  28. https://web.archive.org/web/20060429063052/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/Trivia/trivia.asp?lang=E&cat=cf&hea=firsts&subcat=Hoc Firsts in Canadian Parliamentary History
  29. https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Profile?personId=7296 Pietro Rizzuto – Parliament of Canada biography
  30. Web site: Naranjan Singh Grewall: first NRI Mayor of Mission, BC, Canada. NRI Naranjan Singh Grewall was the first (Indo Canadian) Mayor of Mission, B.C., Canada and the first Indo Canadian mayor within any city in Canada, in 1954.He was elected Canada's first Sikh city councilor,to a public office in Mission, not only in Canada, but all of North America in 1950. In 1941, he came to Mission, B.C. from Toronto, Ontario. He purchased and became the operator of six lumber companies across the Fraser Valley. Referring to holders of forest management licenses as 'Timber Maharajahs', he warned that within 10 years 3 or 4 giant corporations would effectively control the industry in B.C. Mr. Grewall became a voice for the growing industry and openly critiqued the then government's policies of granting licenses to their friends. Throughout his life, Naranjan Grewall remained incredibly charitable..
  31. Web site: Diversity flourishes in Mission. May 12, 2017. In 1950, Naranjan Grewall became the first Hindu (as it was phrased at that time) in Canada to be elected to public office, after the voting franchise was extended to visible minority groups in 1947. In 1954, he was appointed to the position of mayor of Mission City by the board and later ran for the CCF in the Dewdney riding in 1956 [...] The two most legendary personalities from the Sikh community who graced Mission, and both employed hundreds of people, owning several large mills in the area, were Herman Braich Sr. and Naranjan Grewall..
  32. Web site: Grewall first Indo-Canadian to hold office of mayor in Canada. February 6, 2014. He was later nominated as a provincial candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1956, making him also the first visible minority to run as a candidate in Canada. He was narrowly defeated by Socred Labour Minister Lyle Wicks. [...] During the much-heated 1956 provincial election, Grewall, as a CCF candidate, commonly addressed the issues of taxes, bridges, farmers and the forestry industry, which he claimed were being “monopolized” by a handful of large companies in the province. Grewall referred to these stakeholders as “timber maharajahs,” and said the system would revert to a “form of feudalism, which I left 30 years ago.”.
  33. Web site: Feb 23. Karl Salgo Published on. 2021 3:46pm. 2021-02-23. Newfoundland and Labrador's mail-in election is a Canadian first. 2021-03-04. iPolitics. en-US.