Memo from Ellen Fairclough to John G. Diefenbaker

Canada
Office of Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
May 18, 1962

On April 11, 1962, I made the following statement in the House of Commons:

“I should like to state for the record, so there will be no possibility of misunderstanding on the point, that the rights of Indians under treaty and the rights of Indians not under treaty are not in any way diminished or affected by the legislation passed in 1960 which conferred on persons of Indian status the right to vote in federal elections. The legislation in question takes nothing at all away from the Indians; instead, it confers an additional right or benefit, the right to vote in exactly the same way as any other citizen of Canada.”

I would now like to give you my personal assurance that none of your rights will be affected by your voting and I urge you to exercise this privilege of citizenship.

Yours sincerely,

Ellen L. Fairclough [signed]

Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration