Posted by blood roses at 6:23pm Jul 12 '04Alright, so this is just a brief explanation of Canadian politics.
First, how the system works:
First off, Canada is a Constitutional Monarchy... our head of state is actually Queen Elizabeth. In Canada she is represented by our Governor General. However the role of the Queen and the Governor General is almost entirely symbolic. Our Prime Minister is the effective head of state.
The way elections work is, the country is divided up into electoral districts. The people in each district vote for a representative. They select from a list of candidates, most of whom are representing one of the major parties. The candidate who gets the most votes wins and becomes a Member of Parliament (MP) and the representative for that district. At the end of the election, the party from which the most MPs were elected forms the government, and the leader of that party becomes the Prime Minister. If the party forming the government has more than 50% of the MPs, they are a Majority Government. Less than 50% and they are a Minority Government. In Canada we usually have majority government, but sometimes there are minorities.
The Prime Minister appoints some of his MPs to the position of Minister (Minister of Health, Minister of Education, etc.) and these Ministers form his Cabinet. Ministers come up with propositions for laws, which are voted on in Parliament. It takes 50% of the votes to get a law passed, and on important bills, MPs have to vote according to the party line. So in the case of a majority government, any laws that the governing party wants passed will be passed. In a minority government, the governing party needs co-operation from the opposition parties to get their laws passed.
There is also the Senate, which is appointed by the Prime Minster rather than elected, and Senators serve until they choose to retire. Senators are mostly appointed based on being friends of the government rather than merit, and the Senate doesn't really do much. Finally there is the Supreme Court which is similar to the American Supreme court. The Supreme Court rules on whether laws agree with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. One thing that is different though, is our Constitution contains a Nonwithstanding clause that allows the government to overturn Supreme Court decisions that they do not agree with... not sure if it has ever been used.
Now for the current state of politics:
Compared to the United States, Canada is very left wing, we're somewhat of a welfare state... taxes are quite high, government is fairly large, we have a Universal Health Care system that we are irrationally proud of. Compared to some countries in Europe however, we're not left wing at all, so I guess it's a matter of perspective.
The major parties are:
The left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP stands for higher taxes (especially on corporations and the rich), increased funding for current social programs, creation of new social programs such as a government-run day care centre, and protection of the environment. They are pro-choice and for gay marriage.
The centrist Liberal Party. Traditionally they were a centre-left party, but in recent years have moved to the centre. They stand for the status quo - neither cutting nor increasing taxes, keeping the budget balanced, modestly increasing funding for current social programs and the military if money permits. They're pro-life but leaving the question of gay marriage up to the courts.
The right wing Conservative Party, recently formed from a merger of the centre-right Progressive Conservatives and the far-right Canadian Alliance. They stand for tax cuts, balanced budges, a strong military and smaller government. They generally avoid the abortion question - their grassroots support is pro-life, but the majority of Canadians are pro-choice and they don't want to scare anyone off. They woudl put the gay marriage question to a free vote in Parliament, and if the vote went against gay marriage, they would use the Nonwithstanding clause to overturn any result of a Supreme Court decision for gay marriage.
The Bloc Quebecquois which is the Quebec separatist party.
The Liberals served three terms in a row (all majority governments) and looked set to win a fourth in our election June 28, 2004, but then a scandal broke where it was basically discovered that the Liberals had funnelled $100 million Canadian to Liberal-friendly ad firms. They managed to scrape by with a minority government, mainly because for many people the NDP are too far left and they fear that the Conservatives are too far right (the Conservatives are a new party, so people arent' really sure where they stand yet). So they felt that they had no choice but to vote Liberal... except in Quebec where many people voted Bloc Quebecois.
That wasn't brief at all, was it! Congratulations if you made it through all of it. If you have any questions, please ask. And if any of my fellow Canadians read this, feel free to correct me on any mistakes I made!
There are 308 seats in Parliament, which means to get a bill passed you need 155 votes. The Liberals have a minority government with 134 seats. They were expected to form an informal coalition with the NDP but the NDP have only 19... so the Liberals + NDP = only 154 votes. One vote short. So it should be interesting to see what happens.
First, how the system works:
First off, Canada is a Constitutional Monarchy... our head of state is actually Queen Elizabeth. In Canada she is represented by our Governor General. However the role of the Queen and the Governor General is almost entirely symbolic. Our Prime Minister is the effective head of state.
The way elections work is, the country is divided up into electoral districts. The people in each district vote for a representative. They select from a list of candidates, most of whom are representing one of the major parties. The candidate who gets the most votes wins and becomes a Member of Parliament (MP) and the representative for that district. At the end of the election, the party from which the most MPs were elected forms the government, and the leader of that party becomes the Prime Minister. If the party forming the government has more than 50% of the MPs, they are a Majority Government. Less than 50% and they are a Minority Government. In Canada we usually have majority government, but sometimes there are minorities.
The Prime Minister appoints some of his MPs to the position of Minister (Minister of Health, Minister of Education, etc.) and these Ministers form his Cabinet. Ministers come up with propositions for laws, which are voted on in Parliament. It takes 50% of the votes to get a law passed, and on important bills, MPs have to vote according to the party line. So in the case of a majority government, any laws that the governing party wants passed will be passed. In a minority government, the governing party needs co-operation from the opposition parties to get their laws passed.
There is also the Senate, which is appointed by the Prime Minster rather than elected, and Senators serve until they choose to retire. Senators are mostly appointed based on being friends of the government rather than merit, and the Senate doesn't really do much. Finally there is the Supreme Court which is similar to the American Supreme court. The Supreme Court rules on whether laws agree with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. One thing that is different though, is our Constitution contains a Nonwithstanding clause that allows the government to overturn Supreme Court decisions that they do not agree with... not sure if it has ever been used.
Now for the current state of politics:
Compared to the United States, Canada is very left wing, we're somewhat of a welfare state... taxes are quite high, government is fairly large, we have a Universal Health Care system that we are irrationally proud of. Compared to some countries in Europe however, we're not left wing at all, so I guess it's a matter of perspective.
The major parties are:
The left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP stands for higher taxes (especially on corporations and the rich), increased funding for current social programs, creation of new social programs such as a government-run day care centre, and protection of the environment. They are pro-choice and for gay marriage.
The centrist Liberal Party. Traditionally they were a centre-left party, but in recent years have moved to the centre. They stand for the status quo - neither cutting nor increasing taxes, keeping the budget balanced, modestly increasing funding for current social programs and the military if money permits. They're pro-life but leaving the question of gay marriage up to the courts.
The right wing Conservative Party, recently formed from a merger of the centre-right Progressive Conservatives and the far-right Canadian Alliance. They stand for tax cuts, balanced budges, a strong military and smaller government. They generally avoid the abortion question - their grassroots support is pro-life, but the majority of Canadians are pro-choice and they don't want to scare anyone off. They woudl put the gay marriage question to a free vote in Parliament, and if the vote went against gay marriage, they would use the Nonwithstanding clause to overturn any result of a Supreme Court decision for gay marriage.
The Bloc Quebecquois which is the Quebec separatist party.
The Liberals served three terms in a row (all majority governments) and looked set to win a fourth in our election June 28, 2004, but then a scandal broke where it was basically discovered that the Liberals had funnelled $100 million Canadian to Liberal-friendly ad firms. They managed to scrape by with a minority government, mainly because for many people the NDP are too far left and they fear that the Conservatives are too far right (the Conservatives are a new party, so people arent' really sure where they stand yet). So they felt that they had no choice but to vote Liberal... except in Quebec where many people voted Bloc Quebecois.
That wasn't brief at all, was it! Congratulations if you made it through all of it. If you have any questions, please ask. And if any of my fellow Canadians read this, feel free to correct me on any mistakes I made!
added on 6:29pm Jul 12 '04:
One thing to add... if the governing party loses a vote on an important bill, it is considered a vote of no-confidence, the Governor General dissolves the government, and we go back to the polls. This often happens in minority governments.added on 6:48pm Jul 12 '04:
Oooh... and an addition on the current state of things:There are 308 seats in Parliament, which means to get a bill passed you need 155 votes. The Liberals have a minority government with 134 seats. They were expected to form an informal coalition with the NDP but the NDP have only 19... so the Liberals + NDP = only 154 votes. One vote short. So it should be interesting to see what happens.