Elections in Canada
Voting
• Any Canadian over the age of 18 can vote in any election.
• Canadians vote for a Member of Parliament• Members of Parliament represent Canadians
in the House of Commons.• Members of Parliament represent
geographical regions called ridings• There are 308 Members of Parliament
Ridings or Constituencies
• Canada has a lot of land and a small population
• Ridings are determined by geographic regions not population
• Canada’s largest riding has 29 000 people and covers 2 million square km
• Canada’s smallest riding has 104 000 people and covers 9 square km
Elections
• The Prime Minister must call an election every 5 years but can decide to call it at any time
• The Chief Electoral Officer is a bureaucrat who manages the election and makes sure the rules are followed
The Vote
• Each riding has many polling stations, these are where people go to vote
• Polling stations are often found in schools or public buildings
• People vote by putting an x on a ballot for the person they want to vote for
POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties
• There are five major political parties in Canada
1. NDP2. Liberals3. Conservatives4. Green Party5. Bloc Quebecois
• Political parties are formed by people who share the same ideas
• Anybody can become a member of a party by paying a membership fee
Party Leader
• Each political party chooses a leader• The leader represents the party and is its main
voice• If the party wins the party leader becomes the
Prime Minister
Candidates
• A political party wins an election by electing the most candidates to the House of Commons
• Parties can choose candidates however they like, sometimes the Party Leader will choose a candidate, sometimes they will be chosen by the people in the riding
Party Platform
• A party platform is the main ideas that a party will do if they are elected
• It is their reason for why people should vote for them
• If a party is elected they don’t have to do what they said, but if they don’t next election no one will believe them
Public Opinion Polls
• Parties will often ask the public what they will like when they are forming their platform
• They will use these polls to decide who is a good candidate or a good leader
• They also use these polls to decide where they need to spend the most money while campaigning
Campaigning
• During an election the party and candidates campaign for election
• They try to spread their message and raise money to spend on running the campaign
• The more money a party gets the easier it is for them to campaign because they can spend more on TV ads, etc.
Negative vs. Positive
• Campaiging can be negative or positive• Negative campaigning involves saying bad
things about a candidates opponent and saying why there policies are bad
• Positive campaigning involves saying good things about yourself and explaining why your policies are good
THE RESULTS
First-Past-the-Post (FPTP)
• Canada has a FPTP system• Winner’s do not need to have more than 50%
of the vote, they only need to have more votes than anyone else
• Sometimes this can result in a party who has a majority of the votes not winning the election
Single Transferable Vote (STV)
• A voting system which gives parties seats based on the percentage of votes they win in the election
• Some people argue that this type of voting is better because it makes every count
Majority or Minority• The party that gets the most candidates
elected wins the election• If a party gets 50% of its 308 candidates
elected it wins a majority government• If a party gets less than 50% of its candidates
elected it wins a minority government• Minority governments cannot do whatever
they want, they have to work with the other parties to pass the laws they want
Voter Apathy
• Some Canadians don’t want to vote, normally only 60-70% of Canadians who can vote, do so
• There is no one reason for voter apathy, but generally people either are not interested, don’t like the candidates, or don’t think their vote would matter
Review• Dissolution – the government is shut down and
the an election is called• Enumeration – a list of voters is made• Nomination – political parties choose their
candidates• Campaigning – Parties spread their message
and try to make money• Voting/Balloting – People vote for a candidate• Tabulating – Votes are counted and a winner is
chosen