Democracy In Canada

“The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within”. (Gandhi) A lawful and fair democracy is one that represents the people, where the will of the people is done not where the government’s will is enforced. Here in Canada we believe a democratic government is well suited for its people but like any other system it has its flaws. This country was a model democracy. Canada’s wealth, respect for legal, human and civil rights almost promises that this country has the potential to uphold a legitimate democracy. Reading headlines today concerning the state of democracy in Canada we can see how our political system is slipping. A democracy should uphold the rights of its people rather than the rights of a

The electoral system in Canada is also known as a “first past the post” system. “First past the post” means the candidate with the highest number of votes wins the congressional seat, whereas the other candidates with a lower number of votes don’t get any representation. There are many cons to this system that will be highlighted throughout this essay. I will argue that the electoral system requires reform due to the discrepancies between the percentage of popular votes and the number of seats won. Canada’s electoral system has many problems and is not seen as fully democratic since it has provided poor representation for both candidates that win and lose. Candidates can win seats with less than 50% of votes, meaning that even if the majority of the nation, or province did not vote for the candidate they still win the election as they consume the highest number of votes among the parties. FPTP allows two people in different ridings to get the same number of votes with the outcome of one winner since the distribution of votes and seats are unequal. The system can also encourage strategic voting such as not voting for whom you think is the best fit but voting for the candidate that seems most likely to win in order to beat candidate you dislike. FPTP leads to an imbalance of power and has the potential for corruption.

Canada’s friendly neighbor to the South, the US, has an electoral system that is composed of 3 separate elections, one of them deciding the head of state. The president elected by the people and he or she is the determining person of the country’s political system. In the US runs like a majority system” In Canada, however, elections are held slightly differently. Citizens vote for a Member of Parliament in a 308-seat house and candidates win not by a majority, unlike in the US, but by a plurality. This means that a candidate can actually win by simply having more votes than the other candidates. This method of representative democracy, in general, does not cause too much controversy in a global scope but has

The Canadian Prime Minister presents the illusion that this so-called democratic Canada is run by the will of the people and attempts to maintain this image, yet the truth is that the power stays

A number of issues plague the current state of Canadian democracy, such as poor voter turnout, the increasing polarization of politics, and even numerous scandals regarding the Senate. Yet, arguably the most important issue in relation to the Canadian electoral process is the debate over whether or not the state should implement electoral reform for federal elections, more specifically replacing the Single Member Plurality system (SMP) with the Mixed Member Proportional system (MMP). Some analysts, like Christopher Kam, defend the SMP system and claim that a number of the issues that are used as the basis for the support of MMP are actually the result of larger forces than simply the electoral format. And, that holding politicians

The right to vote in a fair election is fundamental to Canadian democracy. While protected under law, there are tactics which have been used to prevent individuals from exercising this right. In the 2008 and 2011 federal elections, some voters received fraudulent “robo-calls,” instructing them to vote for candidates who were not running for election, or directing them to incorrect or non-existent polling stations. This was a calculated act of voter suppression presenting serious consequences for democracy in Canada. First and foremost, it was a deliberate attempt to deprive Canadians of their right to vote. As such, victims of these calls, as well as many other citizens, were left feeling disillusioned with our electoral system and mistrustful of politics in general. This has not been aided by the fact that only one person was ever charged in connection with the scandal. What that has proven, however, is that it is possible to utilize robo-calls to commit election fraud with relatively little consequence. The use of robo-calls poses a harmful impact to Canadian democracy by denying citizens their right to vote, fostering distrust in politics, and setting a dangerous precedent for future electoral fraud.

     In the report by Paul Howe and David Northrup titled, “Strengthening Canadian Democracy: the Views of Canadians” Policy Matters 1:5, Canadians attitudes towards government including questions about electoral system reform, representation and the rate of veter turnout.(Howe & Northrup, 2000) After reading, this report it is clear that many Canadians find many issues of their government to be unacceptable. One of the most menacing concerns is in the form that government attains office. The voting process, the form in which Canadians are represented by their Members of Parliament, and the first past the post method of election.

When evaluating the liberal democracy or constitutional monarchy in Canada it is imperative to identify that the Canadian governing system cannot unambiguously be either correct or incorrect. Hence, Canada’s democratic system functions well enough; nonetheless it would further benefit from adopting a Nordic democratic-socialist model as well as adopting a proportional representation electoral system. A Nordic democratic system would benefit the citizens by providing them with universal health care, closely similar wages, free and inexpensive education, public pension plans, and virtually free trade. Second, if Canada is to adopt a proportional representation system the citizens will be better represented. Despite these flaws in the liberal

It may be defined as the "Government of the people, by the people and for the people" (Abrahim Lincoln (1809-1865) ). In the democratic country like Canada , leaders are elected by the people and the rughts of people are protected.

Over the years, political power in Canada has been held by older men of Anglo-Celtic or Francophone heritage, rather than by females or members of Canada 's ethnic groups. In fact, the Canadian political sphere is considered a vertical mosaic because different ethnicities, languages, regional groupings, and religious groupings hold unequal status and power. Indeed, the representations of women and minority groups has been unproportioned with respect to their population. Therefore, when there are absences from the decision making process in representation of these aforementioned groups, there is a big concern in respect to the legitimacy of the political system. In fact, a third of Canadians express disappointment in respect to the way

At this point in time a new proposition has been offered by those within Upper Canada, a new idea meant to divide Canada even further. Upper Canada has gone on to show their intentions to divide the government according to the areas of Upper and Lower Canada. A government should be a unifying presence, yet many wouldn’t be too opposed to this as a government meant to focus on the affairs of the different conditions would sound rather beneficial, yet, this is where the problem lies.

The downfall of Canada and its democracy lays in the hands of the prime minister. Second to the governor general the prime minister holds the single highest power an individual in parliament can obtain. The unrestricted power given to them, discussed in section I, represents more of a monarchy than a democracy and illustrates how Canada and its ideologies are being skewed and altered to benefit the prime minister. Throughout the paper we will examine the defective parliamentary system, addressing the specific powers that enable the prime ministers to silence Parliament. Although various arguments are made throughout the paper, the focus will be on the overwhelming evidence supporting the thesis that the prime minister has too much power. Section

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 2011, three legal and constitutional scholars, Peter Aucoin, Mark D. Jarvis and Lori Turnbull set out to write a book detailing what they believed to be obvious and egregious errors in the way in which the current form of responsible government as it was practiced in the Canadian federal government, fell short of operating within basic democratic parameters. Canada has a system that is based one the Westminster system, in which its the Constitution act of 1867 is influenced by British principles and conventions. “Democratizing the Constitution reforming responsible government” is a book that makes an analysis for the reform of responsible government in Canada. The authors believe that from the unclear rules, pertaining to the role and power of the prime minster foresees for a failing responsible government. In this essay the functions of the government , conventions of the constitution, the a proposal for reform will be addressed.

What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of