Rita Chen's Roles

Now that you are up to date with currents events I will briefly touch on some strong point of the Canadian democratic system. Citizens in Canada indirectly hold power in a free electoral system and are given better representation and more freedoms for their citizens than other systems of government. The freedom of speech, freedom of political expression, and the freedom of the media allow citizens to vote in favour of their own interest. Democracy in Canada is rooted on the grounds of equal rights; this gives people equality before the law, human rights, free and fair elections and so on. In comparison to the Third World, power is in the hands of the “Big Men”, the police and army are the ones who hold control not the people and where corruption is a norm, Canada may look like a utopia. Another strong point in the Canadian political system is everyone no matter race or sex has the right to vote as long as you are a Canadian citizen over the age of eighteen. Until the 60s/70s parties would make up electoral boundaries this was done to increase the number of votes in that location this is called gerrymander, this was unfair because certain parties had an advantage over others. However, now under the Electoral Boundaries Commissions this problem does not occur and no party has the upper hand over another. Interestingly the

The civic issue that my point of view has changed on is the 1st speaker’s issue for the second speaker’s corner reflection. The speaker’s issue is that more Canadians need to vote. He states that only about 60% of the citizens voted in the last federal election. He also continues and says that if 60% of the population is voting for a government that is representing 100% of the population, you can’t really call that a truly democratically elected government anymore. By having more people to vote, we can have a government that represents our country the best since everyone’s opinions are considered. This can allow our country to develop into an even greater country. The speaker suggests that Canada should introduce some form of mandatory voting legislation to encourage people to vote. This civics issue is important to all Canadian citizens because our government represents 100% of the Canadian population. This is also another

Overall, the representation of elected women now stands at about 25 % at each level of government, including on municipal councils, in provincial/territorial legislatures and at federal level. (Parliament of Canada, 2016) With this significant gender parity in politics, the paper examines the causes of the under-representation of Canadian women in politics. Findings are based on scholarly articles and their analyzed data on why do fewer Canadian women run for political office. When taken together, the results presented in this paper argues that (1) unwelcoming environment (women and family unfriendly working environment) with lack of support in political engagement, (2) women’s experience of exclusion, paternalism and systemic discrimination in political realm, and (3) media’s portrayal of women as to be marginalized by the society are what cause Canadian women to be under-represented in politics. Finally, the paper raises an interesting question from the topic of gender disparity into further discussion of the discrimination within discriminated group women other than those privileged ones who are likely to be selected in public

The government’s role for the people is to challenge them like how contestants from “The Amazing Race” or “Fear Factor” are challenged. Government should be like a reality competition show filled with adventure and danger (Amazing Race, 2003) (Fear Factor, 2005). Just like the government in “The Hunger Games” (Collins, 2008). People should compete for rights and liberties. The competitions can be held under the government’s supervision. These competitions can involve multiple life daring tasks and only the ones that survive win. The losers or the ones not so fortunate die in the process, a true fight to the death. Government works from a federal standpoint and does not get involved in local affairs.

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

Pauline Marois graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social services from the University of Laval in 1971 (Parti Québécois, n.d.). She then went on to proceeded, in 1976, to obtain a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Montreal (Parti Québécois, n.d.). She is the leader of the Parti Quebecois since 2007, and is also the Prime minister of Québec since 2012 (Parti Québécois, n.d.). Pauline Marois and the Parti Québécois proposed Bill 60, also known as the Charter of Values, in fall of 2013 (Riga, 2014, para. 7). Therefore the purpose of this paper will be to analyse the goal of this bill, the ways it may be achieved, and the central criticisms of it.

government is not the only government that has power; provincial governments have a role in

According to Elections Canada (2011), the right to vote is a major equitable right that is ensured by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is the foundation of democracy. When we vote, we pick the representatives who will make the laws and strategies that represent how we live together. The authenticity of an administration lies in the way that it is chosen. Low voter turnouts may call into inquiry the legitimacy of authority. While democracy includes a great deal holding elections every five years, voting is an effective approach to make an impression on governments and legislators. The more votes, the more compelling the message is. Ultimately, each vote counts. To vote in Canada at any level of government, you must be a Canadian citizen. (“Why Should I Vote”, 2011) As a result, masses of adults who reside in Canada are denied the right to vote because they are not Canadian citizens. There is no question that the status of citizenship has been contested since the migration trend in Canada soared the past 20 years. (Siemiatycki, 2011) These residents work, pay local taxes, use city services, send their children to school but cannot vote. (Munro, 2008) Giving non-citizens voting rights would give permanent residents an opportunity to participate in decisions made on local services and issues, fostering a sense of

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 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

How can the Canadian government be dominated by one ruler when it has democratic elections with many competing parties? Mellon believes that Canadian elections have low voter turnouts and even lower public interest. Canadian elections are essentially sporadic. Finally, Mellon also believes that prime ministers “…are supported by a growing circle of advisors, pollsters, and spin doctors that help protect their position,” (Hugh 175). The main focus of Mellon’s argument is this idea of a prime-ministerial government.

The majoritarian model is currently being used in Canadas political economy, however, Canada’s would be better off with a shift to the consensus model as it included all minority groups and represented the true meaning of democracy. The consensus model represented the people in a society by including minority groups, using a federal or decentralized government and a multi-party system. The consensus model ensured the inclusion of groups in plural societies, where this was absent under a majoritarian ruling. A majoritarian model of government only made decisions in the hands of a select few, whereas, in a consensus model the power was divided in a federal or decentralized government. Finally, a consensus model allowed for multiple parties to run for election under the multiparty system and voting was done under proportional representation. However, in a majoritarian government, there are two parties running for office which operated under a disproportional election.

Canadian Political Culture, in a nation- state context, can be break down as beliefs and attitudes that Canadian have of political objects( Jackson, Politics in Canada.1994).

The lack of flexibility within government, however, as Armstrong articulates that “opposition now comes not only from the big provinces but also from forces such as doctors’ organizations […] those seeking for profit” (Armstrong, p153). Governments’ are influenced from behind the scenes in the form of private investment and wealthy investors such as lobbyists. I do believe that if the government becomes more flexible, it would under these conditions - eliminate public funding across the board and implement a free market due to the persuasion of partisan funding. With the electoral system Canadians have in place, bipartisan voting and four or five-year electoral schedule, it differs political parties from imposing such changes, as they are confined to public opinions (Malcolmson, p227). In comparison, Armstrong defines our ‘rigidity’ as praise for resistance of private corporations and lobbyists, avoiding “pressuring individual legislators” (Armstrong, p21). The for-profit industry is heavily funded, therefore, can offer significantly more public persuasion. Furthermore, as discussed by our guest lecturer, we are geographically linked to the largest for-profit regime on the globe – our television is directly influenced by American advertisements, enticing our population to believing that we are restrained in choice of care by our government.

Responsible government is a fundamental convention of the Canadian constitution. It is built around different structures of the government the presently exist. The authors main belief of how responsible government should function goes back to the adoption of responsible government from the political reformers, from the time of Joseph Howe. This looked at the two functions of the