History of Canada (1960-1981)

The history of Canada (1960–1981) refers to the period immediately following the prosperous 1950s until the new constitution of 1982, the Canada Act.

In 1960, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's government decided to permit all Status Indians to vote in federal elections. Since 1950, Status Indians had been allowed vote on the condition that they gave up their treaty rights and Indian status, defined in the Indian Act as "enfranchisement", or if they had fought in the First or Second World Wars. The Inuit and Métis were already able to vote at the time.

The "Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act", which removed the discriminatory parts of Section 14, was made into law on March 31, 1960. The 1968 election would make Leonard Marchand the first Status Indian to serve as a member of parliament. Status Indians would not be legally allowed to vote in all provincial elections until Quebec enfranchised them in 1969.

Diefenbaker was succeeded by Lester B. Pearson in 1963, at a time of increasing political unrest in much of the Western world. In Canada the largest crises involved provincial rights, especially in Quebec, where nationalism had been increasing and was on the verge of violent explosion. Pearson recognized Quebec to be a "nation within the nation". One attempt at pacifying Quebec, and moving Canada away from the old British imperialism, was creating a new flag.

The old Red Ensign no longer reflected Canada's place in the world, and Pearson believed a new flag would help unite French and English Canada with truly Canadian symbols. After lengthy debates over numerous designs, the current maple leaf flag was adopted in 1965 and was somewhat quickly embraced by the public. Veterans of the First Two World Wars felt as though this change was wrong, as they and many of their friends and family members fought and died under the old flag. By the end of Lester B. Pearson's term, most of the controversy had ended, although some people remained upset. Famously, Diefenbaker, a staunch proponent of the Red Ensign, had both the Red Ensign and the Maple Leaf version on his casket following his death in 1979.

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