Reinventing Canada Stephen Harper's Conservative Revolution Summary

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.

When it comes to certain qualities and attributes of the United States of America and Canada, many people residing elsewhere fail to tell the difference. The accents of people from certain parts of both countries, for instance, are so incredibly indistinguishable that they baffle any and everyone. Besides this one factor, they even share some comparable cultural characteristics, such as driving on the right side of the road and cherishing the same basic human rights to the utmost importance. Likewise, there are several similarities between multiple aspects of the countries’ respective governments, including within their individual established frameworks, political systems, and their divisions of authorities and duties. These could potentially point out a reason as to why Canada and the United States are immensely successful in their particular objectives, and are on their paths to achieving their long-term goals with difficult to accomplish, yet beneficial visions. After all, they are both either on the way to becoming or currently are two of world’s leading superpowers (Financial Post). However, there is not just one particular infallible way to rule a country and push it to further advancement simultaneously. In fact, each country works and functions differently, which is primarily due to individual background and history. Ultimately, although Canada and the United States of America are both nations that share similarities in various parts of their Constitutions, political

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

Pierre Trudeau was a leader who not only brought change by bringing new laws to Canada, but he changed the way people viewed other laws. Trudeau listened to the majority, but also protected the rights of the minority which demonstrates he is a strong leader. He once said “Canada will be a strong country when Canadians of all provinces feel at home in all parts of the country, and when they feel that all Canada belongs to them.” (CBC Archives) Trudeau has always strived for greatness and has been successful in many cases. As in the FLQ crisis, Trudeau declared a brief period of Martial Law using the War Measures Act (WMA). By doing this, he completely changed the view of the WMA. It had been assumed that the WMA would be used in times of crisis, such as famines, depressions, pandemics and other serious situations that are serious to Canada’s well-being. However, Trudeau demonstrated how it can be used

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has made some controversial decisions in key cases in Canada’s past. When looking at the Canadian Founders intent for Canadian Federalism, many scholars argue that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has done a bad job following the founders’ intentions and intentionally decentralized Canada. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council did fail in keeping in line with what the founders intended for Canada and may have even intentionally set out to decentralize the Canadian government, but this does not mean it had a negative impact on Canada. There are a number of cases that were seen by the JCPC that played a vital role in the decentralization of the Canadian government, yet

Harper used the weak liberal leaders to ensure he stayed in power and he was able to ensure that a coalition did not happen between the Liberals, New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois. He remained strong when the possibility of his government being replaced by a coalition almost happened, he was successful by saying that the deal the liberals made was “‘a betrayal of the voters of this country… a betrayal of the best interests of our economy… a betrayal of the best interests of our country. And we will fight it with every means that we have’” (223). Harper kept his opponents divided and he showed Canadians that he was not going anywhere. Finally, he showed leadership after winning a majority by promising “‘major reforms’ in ‘a whole range of areas’ to ‘secure the sustainability of our key programs… for a generation to come’” (364). This showed that he was just getting started. Stephen Harper’s leadership style was to remain a strong leader while making as few headlines as possible. Harper did not like making headlines, “This helps explain why he has lasted. He lies low because he wants to last” (291). Harper was an effective leader because he knew how to keep a low profile which limited the amount of bad

On October 19th,2015 we vote to end the reign of the man who had been called the worst prime minister in history this man is Steven Harper. Harper became prime minister in 2006 and since then has done nothing but bad for Canada. Harpers record is that of someone who doesn’t hold the values of us Canadians. Some very “un-Canadian” things about Harper are; His “attack on science”, sexism, and racism.

With his announcement on August 2, 2015 Prime Minister Stephen Harper set in motion a 78-day election campaign, one of the longest and quite possibly the most expensive in Canadian history (Maloney, 2015). The structural constraints posed by the first-past-the-post electoral system, and the institutional constraints of the parliamentary system and campaign spending legislation were all potentially beneficial to Harper and the Conservative Party, but his underestimation of strategic voting and the power of social media, combined with his use of polarising debates and the decision of many popular incumbent Tory MP’s not to run, led to his party’s downfall and the creation of a Liberal majority government. This essay delves deeper into the factors behind the Conservative Party’s loss in the October 2015 Canadian election, in an attempt to understand why they were unable to secure a fourth mandate and come out first-past-the-other parties.

David E. Smith’s book, The Invisible Crown: The First Principle of Canadian Government, contends that studies pertaining to the Crown should be revived because the Crown is the least understood institution in Canada. He claims the crown to be a structuring principle of government. While arguing the Crown’s centrality in Canadian politics, he posits that the Crown and its prerogatives empower the political executive and make it efficient, to the extent that it can produce an effect (x-xi).

Pierre Trudeau`s legacy presents evidence that indicates he was the most influential figure in Canadian history. Throughout his career, his belief of a distinct Canada apart from Britain has grown and has developed into many important decisions for Canada to solidify Canada`s reputation among the world (Bibliography par. 1). Moreover, he strongly believed in a unified country with Quebec, thus completely rejecting the idea of Quebec separatism, which helped develop Canada`s multiculturalism (1980 Referendum par. 3). Lastly, he believed in full acceptance of culture and language, therefore he played a significant role in the creation of official bilingualism. (Bibliography par. 1). Clearly, Pierre Trudeau has powerfully impacted Canada by prominently

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.

He continues to weave logos into his words, drawing on facts from Canada's history, describing the way Canada has been ruled under another country's government, and how in 1931 Canada became an independent country for practical purposes with the Statute of Westminster. (Trudeau) As he relives the history of the country with listeners, he establishes credibility by combining facts and logic, with the appeal of ethics. The ethical appeal is used specifically as Trudeau makes his point that the way Canada has been run in the past isn't right, and as a country, Canada should be run on its own.

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.

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.

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.