Borden's Strategy

Borden knew that he needed as much support as he could get so he passed the Military Voters Act and Wartime Elections Act, giving voting rights to all soldiers, Canadians nurses serving with the armed forces, and immediate family (including wives, sisters, and mothers) of Canadian soldiers. Voting rights were also taken away from those who opposed the war due to religious beliefs (pacifist religious groups include Doukhobors, Mennonites, and Hutterites), as well as immigrants who came from enemy countries after the year 1902 and those who spoke German or any other language from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This included people who spoke Ukrainian as Ukraine was a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the time.

This strategy would have been highly effective since women were previously not allowed to vote and women with personal connections and feelings about the war would probably be more inclined towards supporting the men at the frontlines and sending more men to fight with them. If a man’s family wanted him to return home, this would have also been effective because he would not be able to return home unless replacements were found. Nurses would have seen the same things Borden had seen and been moved by.

It also discounted the opinions of groups most likely to be against conscription. Pacifists did not support fighting in the war, let alone forcing individuals to fight. People with links to enemy countries would not have had as strong feelings against those countries either.

As part of the Military Voters Act, all soldiers in the military could vote, which would have made strategic sense because much of the upcoming 1917 election would have been about whether or not people condoned Borden’s decision on conscription. Soldiers were more likely to support it as they themselves had volunteered in the first place, whereas people like pacifists would have opposed it.



Overseas voters could simply vote for a party rather than the party’s candidate from their riding. The government would then distribute that vote to whichever riding they saw fit. This gave the Unionists a clear advantage as they could just place votes in ridings with close contest so that they can gain just enough votes in those ridings for a victory. Control over vote distribution directly contributed to the victory of the Union party in 14 ridings, provoking accusations of unfair politics and corruption.

Conscription would have been a vital issue during the election as nearly half of Canadians opposed it and it dealt with the issue of whether or not Canadian men could be conscripted. In the end, Borden won the election and the Military Service Act was enforced.