still progress to be made. Even though the current parliament is around 25% female, countries such as Cuba, Sweden, and Bolivia are champion examples of diverse participation in politics, as their governments inspire female leadership with close to, and over 50% females in government since their last elections. Canada's policies of multiculturalism have led to increased representation by Canadians from visible minorities. It was only in 1971, that Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau made official in the House of Commons, policies of bilingualism and multiculturalism, to increase participation in democracy.10 This was the first step in truly creating equality amongst all ethnic groups in Canada. His speech was made at a time when very few …show more content…
Canada’s present Liberal government has created a record in the number of minorities participating in its caucus, that surpassed the record that the previous Conservative government had also created. One example of how greatly the representation of minorities has increased, is that there are presently 4 cabinet ministers of Sikh backgrounds, and this is over 10% of the cabinet. There is immense progress in increased participation across ethnicities, and this must also follow through with age. The average age of the House of Commons of Canada, “is still above 53, among MPs whose age is listed; more than 50 per cent of MPs under 40 years of age are women. With the exception of Calgary-Centre MP Michelle Rempel, they are also exclusively NDP.”7 (Woolf, 2015) Again, we note that the NDP is leading the way in younger, in female, and in LGBT participation in politics. These figures point to a lack of knowledge in youth about how to participate in politics, and
The country’s fertility rates began to drop, and the voter demographic became older. The total number of Canadians between the age of 18 and 24 years old began to drop. Adsett states that since there were less youth, there was less of a need to cater towards them. Since the younger generation felt that the government did not care about them, they lost the need to vote which in turn made them seem even less important and more unreliable to the Canadian government. A cycle began between the government and the younger Canadian citizens that greatly affected the country’s voter population. Adsett ends her article by stating that if the number of young voters is to rise, then the government needs to “speak for all of the eligible citizens that it is supposed to represent” (Adsett,
Canada is identified for its sincere generosity that has presented its entire people the privileges to deliberate themselves in several methods. When relating to more unlucky nations, Canada has obtained the Canadian women the chance and freedom to select whichever profession of their choice. Yet, due to societal customs, women typically acknowledge conflicts, that are depressingly estimated upon by the society and are not clearly recognized into careers that are well thought out as men-orientated. Social customs existing in the Canadian culture, generated obstacles in the society of what professions are customary for women and what careers are recognized for men, which makes a key matter of woman acknowledgment in the political parties. Canada overpowers a succession of debatable subjects concerning femininity correspondence, which directed Canadian culture to improve their opinions. As civilization's interpretations rationalized, it carried numerous optimistic modifications concerning gender societal means through the years, such as the recognition of women to participate in the political parties.. Although, in Canadian politics, it is often seen the lack of contribution women make to the political community. Even though, women are as capable as men to participate in Canadian politics, women in Canadian politics are usually looked down upon due to the historical gender views within society, gender inequality that differentiates between the abilities of between both genders
Women play a huge role in society and are becoming more predominant in parliament as the years progress. The issue? They only represent 38.6% of seats in the upper house/senate (Women in national parliaments, 2016). This is a huge problem considering women make up 50% of Canada’s population. Does that statistic prove that women are not getting adequate representation in parliament? The rights of women need to be addressed, maybe not in parliament, but through representation in numbers in parliament. Women are just as equally qualified for parliamentary jobs as men, and the more that this truth is pushed, the more representation women will get. This truth is only realized by some, as the numbers previously show, but the only way for women
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
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
The first emerging trend is the aging population in Canada. Compared to 1971, in which the median age of the population was approximately 26 years, in 2011 the median age of the population in Canada was approximately 40 years. To put this into perspective, according to the 2011 data, half the population was older than 40 years while half was younger. Seniors currently make up the fastest growing age group in Canada. They also represent the fastest
Canada’s issue of a democratic deficit has been a widely discussed topic among Canadian politicians for many years, yet action towards a political reform has yet to have been made. Inadequate citizen representation in the Canadian parliamentary system roots primarily from the first-past-the-post electoral system that is used within the country. This system is based on single member constituency plurality and brings forward the ultimate simplistic of voting systems. The level of simplicity provided by the system for the average voter and for the vote analysis may be its only advantage. The first-past-the-post system allows for the votes of certain, more populated districts to be worth more than those of less populated districts, as they each
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
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
Differences in Family Function in Canada and Saudi Arabia. As long as multiculturalism is an official policy in Canada, there will be a lot of immigrants who come to Canada from different parts of the world, including Muslim countries. Islam plays an important role in every part of people’s lives in all Muslim countries, especially in Saudi Arabia which is heartland of Islam and provides Islamic standards for all Muslim countries. People and families who come to Canada bring their own traditions and habits.
this low voting rate was attributed to a general lack of feeling of responsibility. As young adults age, marry, and become parents, their sense of community and responsibility increases, while their apathy toward voting decreases, (Abramson 116). Another reason for low voter turnout numbers for 18 to 24-year-olds is their generally low levels of party loyalties. Not having strong party ties decreases one's incentive to vote.
It should be noted that certain parts of Canada have attempted to usher in electoral reform in the past. Alas, when various types of reform, including mixed member proportional and single transferable vote, were proposed to voters in
Being the first of major components of election process of the head of the government, Political parties can be identified as an integral part of Canadian Political system. A political party can be explained as a group of people willing to participate in government affairs or to become a government itself. All the party members have shared common goals, values and ideas (about) on influencing current Governmental policies and operations, implementation of their own new laws in order to bring welfare in the life of Canadian residents. One of the functions of these parties is to ‘ensure that we have candidates for federal (provincial elections.)’Once there is a formed party, its members meet together to chose their leader, a candidate,
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
One idea that Wattenberg suggests that I disagree with is that young people do not receive enough information to be politically informed. Information concerning politics has never been more available in society then it is today.