The Electoral Franchise Act of 1885

The idea that Macdonald was merely expressing the prejudices of his age underplays the significance of this particular moment in Canadian history. The 1885 Electoral Franchise Act was not only a key act of Canadian state formation in general--defining who made up the federal polity--but it was also a key moment in racist state formation.

--Timothy J. Stanley, ""The Aryan Character of the Future of British North America": Macdonald, Chinese Exclusion, and the Invention of Canadian White Supremacy," in Macdonald at 200: New Reflections and Legacies, ed. Patrice Dutil and Roger Hall (Toronto: Dundurn, 2014), 115.