Canadian Political Parties

Political parties and the parliamentary system are key means of identifying Canada as a liberal democratic society. Adopted from the British style of governance, the parliament served as an advisor to the Throne in exercising legislative powers within their territories. In present day, the role of Canadian parliament and parties plays a substantial role in the development of bills or laws that govern our daily lives. In recent weeks, our government is facing pressing issues for the upcoming 2015 elections for the head of government; the primary issues being how to elected political leaders within their parties. The two primary points of interest in this process is whether or not to implementing policies that allow open party nominations or

A policy that will allow local party members from the three hundred and thirty-eight ridings of Canada to elect their party leaders for elections. Alternatively, protective parties oppose this policy and chose to protect “star candidates” within their own party instead of involving the local constituencies. Ultimately, the conflict in deciding the political party who may represent Canadian in federal government focuses on how democratic are these policies to begin with and if these policies are affective in representing Canadian interests. I will define parliament as the legislative branch of Canadian government that is represented by the Governor General, the House of Commons, and the Senate. And I will define political party as a group of political activists who aspire to implement their political platforms into government (Malcolmson and Myers, 2012). In this essay, I will argue the values in open nomination policy, assess the democratic relevance of each nomination system, and speculate on the effects of each system within

This policy focuses on the involvement of the local consistency to elect candidates within their own party to be leaders. The value seen within this process is demonstrated through its overall process. Through the process of voting within the party create legitimacy for the leader once elected, thus, increase confidence within the party and capacity once in government. In addition, from this process a wide variety of candidates will be accessible for all members to chose from. Although each member may already have “star candidates” in mind as leader, the choice of leadership generates debate within parties and creates a better understanding of the party’s political platform and better represent Canadian interests from each riding. However, by far the primary value demonstrated within this “open nomination” policy is demonstrate by its relation democratic principles. Even though the accumulation of each riding is a form of representational democracy, the process of these nominations all participatory nominations within the party; generating legitimate growth from within each party. Despite this, this policy is still controversial because of the rules and limitations that apply to each candidate during the nomination process. In a Globe and Mail article, Daniel Leblanc reports that “One Liberal, Christine Innes,