Yay to another election, Canada!
October 15, 2008 | 2:05 amI have lived in Canada for nearly five years now, and in that time, I’ve seen THREE general elections. This is great, because it shows that the will of the people is alive and well (as opposed to other countries where too many elections is a symbol of instability). Why? Because the structure of the Canadian Government is simple, and it works. If, for some reason, it starts looking like it doesn’t work, then the people can question it, and another election is called.
Since i’ve been writing about American politics for so long, i figured, for those who read my blog, that i would force upon you a quick lesson on Canadian politics.
- 2 main parties: Conservatives and Liberals
- The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister (head of the Canadian government)
- There is no President, the official head of the country is the Queen of England, but She has no official power
- Anyone who wants to form a party can do so (for example, in Montreal there is the New Rhinoceros Party, a federal joke party that promised “not to keep any of its promises if elected”)
As a voter, you are part of an electoral region in your province (province = state for US readers), each region is small, never more than 10,000 people). You vote for any party available in your regions, and therefore for that party’s representative. The winner of each region (the one with the most votes) gets a seat in the House of Commons.
It’s that simple. You vote. The winning representative of your small area gets to go the Parliament and represent you. It’s as close to a “government of the people for the people” as one gets.
Since there are 308 regions in Canada, if a single party wins over 165 of them, they have a majority. If they win with less seats, they have a minority government, which means that the party with the second highest number of votes has a huge say in government, which, generally is seen as a good thing for Canadians: the leading party can’t enforce strong party bills and compromise is required. This is what happened today.
In 2006, Harper, the leader of the Conservatives, became the head of a minority government. A month ago, the liberals (the 2nd largest party) claimed “a loss of confidence” in the government (a way to keep the leading party on it’s toes) and called for general election. Today, Canadians voted well: they ensured that the minority government remained. 1 disappointment though: lowest turnout at the polling stations in Canadian History, only 59%, anything under 60% is considered poor turnout. Still, congrats Canada, you make it seem simple, and it should be.
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