Stephen Harper As An Effective Political Leader

Wilfrid Laurier, the man on our five dollar bill. Who is he, you ask? Well, he was arguably one

Many people would like to believe that the president is the most powerful person in the world. However, the structure of America has put restraints on the president that a Prime Minister would not have. There are many differences between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada. These differences include regulations, term of office, powers, and cultures. Throughout this paper you will learn that just being the leader of their country is about as similar as these two people get.

The prime minister has a significant amount of power within the Canadian government. Some of the sources of the prime minister’s powers are the number of seats in the House of Commons he and his party has, his ability to give push/give priority to certain government agendas, and his ability to appoint different governmental positions. For a politician to hold the office of PM his party must hold the majority of the seats in the house; this means that by convention his party must be in solidarity with his decisions, which gives the PM’s the loyal support of his party. Another power of the PM is the ability to put forward government agendas that they believe should be prioritized. The PM also has the ability to appoint people who they believe

Fig. 1. Brian Mulroney’s first year in office (1984), he led the first conservative majority government in 26 years.1

Unforgettable actions that will always be remembered in honour of Mackenzie King, which made him such a great leader. In my opinion William Lyon Mackenzie King showed that he was an effective leader through his duty of being Canada's 10th Prime Minister for 29 years. King made huge impacts on many lives and both world wars in being Canada's best Prime Minister. Mackenzie King did many effective actions throughout his years of being Prime Minister, however three events stood out the most. King showed that he was an effective leader because he created crown corporations, had a dream to start the British Commonwealth Air Training Program and created Unemployment Insurance for people who needed it. Not only did he serve the longest time as Canada's Prime Minister but he successfully affected many lives.

idea of turning Canada back to its original roots. He compares Harper's government system with Pierre Trudeau’s. Arguing about the struggles and failures of

This article talks about Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and his vow to bring Canadians together as one and to make Canada an open, confident and hopeful country. At a rally in Brampton, Ontario, he criticizes Stephen Harper’s “small and fearful” vision of Canada and promises to change that. Trudeau uses a direct quote of Franklin Roosevelt (“We have nothing to fear but fear itself”) to compare Harper’s plan for Canada saying that he has nothing to offer us but fear. Trudeau states that it’s a prime minister’s job to build Canadians up and together, not to tear us apart. Nearly 5 000 supporters attended the rally and it ironically took place in Brampton because it is one of Canada’s most ethnically diverse cities. Half of the population are immigrants

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.

First-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system in general allows candidates to win who may not have a majority of the vote. It privileges big parties and majorities at the cost of smaller parties and coalitions. It also favours parties with strong regional concentrations over parties whose electoral base is more spread out. This is Canada’s current election system and for the past couple of years. In the years that Harper has been in power, he has won majority of the seats with less than 50 percent of the votes. In fact, in 2011, “Stephen Harper won a majority government with 54.1 percent of the seats and only 39.6 percent of the total vote” (Aucoin 161). Harper was able to form a majority government without a majority of the vote and he had a plurality of votes that was less than 50 percent. Canada has been electing its government in this way and the winning party does not hold the majority of the votes, with a few exceptions. In terms of changing the election system, FPTP system is able to produce a clear majority and the majority that wins is able to produce a clear line of power through a majority government. Also, supporters of FPTP, such as Brian Crowly, say that clear lines of power are

Private universities, private jails, private health-care and private water testing. What do all of these things have in common? They are all services the Tory government in Ontario has been trying to privatize with some disastrous results and possibly more to come. The Ontario government, lead by Progressive Conservative leader Mike Harris, has been slowly trying to do away with services that are currently administered by the province. The ideology in question, privatization, has been a hallmark of the Common Sense revolution. But so far the Tories have been slow to make a success of it. Attempts to privatize the Liquor Control Board and TV Ontario were put on the back burner because of low public support. As well, privatizing hydro

The Liberal party was successful in the past due to its ability to reinvent itself in order to meet the changing circumstances and needs. The ‘proactive’ Liberal was strangely absent in the pre-2011 election campaign and turned themselves into a reactive and passive entity just to defend and respond to the opposition’s unscrupulous campaign of personal attacks and vilification. Liberals were always based firm on their political values and philosophy; however, these vital elements of the party were not seen to being used during the campaign for 2011 election as much as it was seen being caught in the mud-tossing against the Harper Government.

“I know our government can do better. Doing better is what we need to do. ” emphasizes the mayor of Toronto, John Tory.

The Liberals reached out of to all Canadians, whereas the Conservatives focused on more particular groups, evident throughout their campaign in Quebec. By trying to impress the Quebec voters with his stand against the niqab, Harper lost votes from those who want the niqab. The ratio of voters for the niqab is much greater as many Canadians value the Charter and going against niqabs would lead to its infringement. The liberals may have went for the niqab and may have unimpressed some Québec voters, however they campaigned with a positive vision that brings Canadians together whereas Harper campaigned by separating Canadians. Along with poor decisions made by Harper’s government, the Senate spending scandal provided the public with doubts about Harper’s credibility because it was he who had chosen the senators. Thus, Harper unknowingly provided reasons for voters to develop distrust, ultimately leading to his defeat in the campaign. As A. Downs (2010) said, “voters evaluate party promises and governmental performance to make their choices of

Opposing the belief that a dominating leader is running Canada, Barker brings up several key realities of the Canadian government. He gives examples of several “… instances of other ministers taking action that reveal the limits prime-ministerial power,” (Barker 178). Barker conveys the fact that Canada is not bound by a dictatorial government, “…it seems that the prime minister cannot really control his individual ministers. At times, they will pursue agendas that are inconsistent with the prime minister’s actions,” (Barker 181). Both inside and outside government are a part of Canada and they can remind the prime minister that “…politics is a game of survival for all players,” (Barker 188). Barker refutes the misinterpretation of the Canadian government by acknowledging that a prime-ministerial government existing in Canada is an overstatement.

In this essay, I will demonstrate that the Prime Minister is powerful and can cause many potential dangers by analyzing different elements inside and outside of our government over the period of different Prime Ministers throughout the Canadian political history.