Case Study: The Northern Ontario Party

The idea of what the Canadian Health Care system should be varies between the country's three political parties. According to the official website of the New Democratic Party of Canada, the NDP believes that every Canadian citizen should have quality, reliable health care. In fact, the NDP initially created Canada's public health care system. In addition to the current health care system, the NDP is trying to create legislation that would grant free dental and drug coverage for seniors over the age of 65. Lastly, recent debate in both Canada and the United States has been on the subject of whether or not health care should be privatized. It is the belief of the NDP that the privatization of health care would have a negative effect in

If the New Democratic Party gains power, they are going to make the health care in Canada better for citizens. Health care is definitely a very important factor in keeping everyone in Canada happy and healthy. Without healthcare, we will get sick more frequently, and not going to regular checkups will make diseases more likely to affect us negatively. The NDP is proposing to end the fees for ambulance services. This will make people more likely to call an ambulance instead of taking a chance of driving themselves. This could save lives because ambulances are much faster than driving yourself in a car because people are required by law to move out of the way of an incoming ambulance on the road. The NDP is saying to give seniors the support they need to live in their own homes instead of being forced to move to an old age home when they get to old to care for themselves or when loved ones and family can no longer care for them. If they get support in their homes, they will not need to go through the stress of moving to a different environment in their late age. If they reduce their stress to as little as possible, they will be more prone to a longer life span. The NDP is promising a fifty percent increase in the number of doctors and nurses being trained each year, so that there is more available in hospitals and emergency

The issue of electoral reform has become more important than ever in Canada in recent years as the general public has come to realize that our current first-past-the-post, winner-take-all system, formally known as single-member plurality (SMP) has produced majority governments of questionable legitimacy. Of the major democracies in the world, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom are the only countries that still have SMP systems in place. Interestingly enough, there has been enormous political tension and division in the last few years in these countries, culminating with the election results in Canada and the USA this year that polarized both countries. In the last year we have seen

Another party that Canadians can vote for is the Communist Party of Canada. Communism is when the state owns everything and gives everyone equal shares. This means there is no class difference and all are equal. This however causes some to lose the incentive to work hard because if a doctor makes the same as a janitor, why bother being a doctor and spending years on your life in university. Communism also bans anything and anyone that opposes it, in China for example religion has been disallowed due to the fact that some religions do not believe communism is the correct way to run a country. By having 26 ridings with candidates in them, the Communist party of Canada has the chance to receive a percentage of the votes and while they may not win a riding, the race in those ridings would end up being closer than necessary and when this happens in several ridings, the party with the most votes may not get the majority and thus is forced to form a coalition government or call another election. There are many 23 parties, and they all may address an issue in the community such as animal rights and transparency in the federal but they do not address more pressing issues such as the

Although Canadian electoral system has always undergone periodic reforms, new challenges always accompany electoral changes and therefore the system should be consistently reformed to meet new circumstances.The current electoral system in Canada is a product of a series of electoral changes that have always taken place since the foundation of the Canadian confederation in the mid 1880s. During the early years, the rights of individuals to vote were significantly limited as only white males had the right to vote but only after meeting certain requirements. A secret ballot was unheard, and it was only after a number of changes were implemented that all social groups in Canada were given the right to vote. Even after these changes, electoral

The Four Political Parties of Canada       In a country as vast and as culturally diverse as Canada, many different political opinions can be found stretched across the country. From the affluent neighbourhoods of West Vancouver to the small fishing towns located on the east coast of Newfoundland, political opinions and affiliations range from the left wing to the right wing. To represent these varying political views, Canada has four official national political parties to choose from: the Liberals (who are currently in power), the Progressive Conservatives, the New Democrats, and the Reform Party. What is particularly interesting is that none of the latter three parties compose Her Majesty's Official Opposition in the House

- Supports Canadian refining of oil from the Alberta oil sands rather than having it exported to foreign markets

Intergovernmental relations play a vital role in the successful governing of our Canadian federation. Due to the various forms and levels of governments, the ability for all those in power to be able to communicate, collaborate, consult, negotiate and support the needs and beliefs of Canadians is invaluable. Each province is made up by many sub-divided regions and people, each with their own problems and needs which may act to contradict the needs and problems of others within a neighboring region. This leaves each province under pressure, forced to decide which position will provide the greatest benefit to their constituents. Alliances and coalitions are created amongst provinces and interest groups to help sway the federal government to

On January 1, 1988, a new Toronto come into being because and the new government is formed due to the merger of the six districts and the merger of municipal governments. Toronto is major economic center and financial pivot of Canada. The merger of six municipalities and one borough led to a broader land, but it also brought a series of problems ranging from financial and community service. So the merge cannot result in saving cost and improving service efficiency. The policy can be gaining income by levying on real estate, and at the same time establishing a wide range of tax systems, or instituting regional government in Greater Toronto.

The article “Provincial-Municipal Relations in Ontario: Approaching an Inflection Point” discusses how the relationship between provincial and municipal government in Ontario needs to adapt to changing circumstances as time goes on. In order for the relationship to adapt there needs to be more communication on what both levels of government roles and responsibilities are in order to better serve the province as partners. One of the strengths of this article is that it is broken up into sections to discuss different aspects of the provincial-municipal relationship and how both levels of government can communicate to better understand their roles. The article also discusses financial issues and how the strengthening of the provincial-municipal relationship can help combat the financial concerns on the horizon, such as the municipal infrastructure deficit. A weakness of this article is that although it provides many thoughtful examples of how the Ontario government has been able to strengthen the provincial and municipal relationship in the past, it needs to focus more on the solution as opposed to the examples. The past examples should be only to support the articles argument as opposed to being the argument itself.

There is a fundamental problem with the democratic process in Canada. This problem is rooted within our electoral system. However, there is a promising solution to this issue. Canada should adopt the mixed-member proportional representation electoral system (MMP) at the federal level if we wish to see the progression of modern democracy. The failure to do so will result in a stagnant political system that is caught in the past and unable to rise to the contemporary challenges that representative democracies face. If Canada chooses to embrace the MMP electoral system it will reap the benefits of greater proportionality, prevent the centralization of power that is occurring in Parliament and among political parties through an increased

This critical analysis will examine Donald E. Blake’s chapter, Electoral Democracy in the Provinces and Territories, in Christopher Dunn’s book, Provinces. This chapter discusses the “electoral procedures and outcomes in the provinces and territories as an indicator of the quality of democracy” (Blake 115) that Canadian provinces and territories demonstrate. Blake introduces this topic in the fourth paragraph of the introduction. It is a clear thesis statement of the focus and purpose of this chapter. The introduction of the chapter aims to establish a preliminary guide about the various electoral procedures from different provinces and territories. With a few examples, such as Quebec and Ontario’s government, and the Yukon

In the western part of Canada, aside from Alberta, usually, politics showcased NDP or CCF on the left side, while some other political party on the right side. The current epitome of the BC Liberal Party accomplishes this role in British Columbia according to BC Politics. This British Columbia political party is neutral federally and it acquires its associates from the center going to the center right. The Social Credit Party of BC suffered several scandals, and plummeted in popularity polls and get replace with NDP. The revival of the Liberal Party caused a split in the moderate/conservative vote, however, and led to a ten-year period of NDP rule in B.C. from 1991 to 2001. Social Credit Party era is ended by NDP in 1991 and NDP hold onto power

Election day in Canada comes around again, but, like many others, Mr. Low decides to stay home. He thinks that there is no point in voting, since the results in his riding are always the same and the candidate he votes for never wins. One may think that he is just being a sore loser, but he has a very valid point. In Mr. Low’s riding, there are three main parties; Liberal, NDP, and Conservative. Mr. Low favours the Liberal candidate, but he knows he has no chance of winning as the outcome is usually either the NDP or Conservative candidate. Mr. Low can tolerate the NDP, but he really does not like the Conservative. Therefore if he were to vote, he would vote for the NDP, not because he genuinely wants to, but because he wants to prevent the Conservative from winning. This is called tactical voting, a type of strategic voting whereby a voter supports a candidate other than his or her first choice in order to prevent an undesirable outcome. This is just one of the many negative effects that the current electoral system, first past the post, creates. Canada is split up into 338 areas called ridings of which each elects a member of parliament. First past the post, or winner takes all, is a political system whereby whoever wins the most votes in a riding becomes the local MP and earns a seat in the House of Commons (‘’Electoral Systems’’). The leader of the party with the most MPs then becomes Prime Minister. A majority government is formed when a party wins over half the seats,

Canada has been an independent nation for over 150 years, so it makes sense that there has been numerous changes in the government, since the government has to reflect its society, and as time changes so does its government. However, some ideologies do not believe it should change in order to keep up with its time. Oxford Dictionary states that the definition of an ideology is “A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.” There are various forms of political ideologies; conservatism and liberalism are being brought up for discussion about what makes conservatives and liberals so different in Canada. Throughout the years, the Canadian government has rotated between liberalism and conservatism, these ideologies share some similarities; however, it can be argued that the significant differences are their political, social, and economic views.