The third major topic to be covered is the politics of Canada. Canada has had a very interesting history with its political system. For most of Canada’s existence it has been mostly a two party system, though third parties definitely play a role and can occasionally challenge the two main parties. The two main parties that trade power back and forth are the Liberals and the Conservatives. The general government beliefs are mostly similar to several European countries. The first Canadian party to discuss is the Liberal Party of Canada. The Liberal Party is the oldest party in Canada and it has spent the most time ruling Canada. This leads to Liberals trying to claim to be “the party of Canada”. The beliefs of the liberals have shifted over …show more content…
The Conservative Party’s history is much less straightforward than the Liberal Party’s history. The Conservative Party formed after the combination of two different political parties. The two parties were the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance. The Progressive Conservatives were the only other party to govern besides the Liberal party, and the Canadian Alliance was a growing party moving for reforms. The two parties came together in the early twenty first century to form a new conservative movement striving for limited government and less taxes (“Our History”). The party takes a much more open market approach to the economy. The Conservatives stay neutral on most social issues despite many of their voters being conservative …show more content…
Now that there is a base level understanding of what the parties stand for, it is important to see the issues that make them think the way they do. One major topic in Canada is their health care system. Like many major countries in the world Canada has socialized medicine. This is one of Canada’s brightest points as many citizens are very happy with their health care system. However, like most socialized systems, there are issues with wait times and quality of care. This can cause a divide between the left and right, but for the most part both respect the health care system and believe it is necessary. Canada also has serious debates about social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. In general, Canada is quite progressive when it comes to social issues, as abortion is nearly completely legal and gay marriage is legal as well. However, some conservative Canadians still have issues with both of these topics, even though the Conservative Party stays neutral on them. These are a few of the main topics that define Canada. With both major parties mostly centrist, there isn’t a huge discrepancy between them. However, with some Canadian citizens moving farther left and others staying conservative, it will be interesting to see how the parties respond to try to get more
These parties are two of the oldest, biggest and most well structured Australian political parties. They are only parties to have held power in the House of Rep’s in Australia. They are rivals and their philosophies are almost directly opposed to each other but they share many similarities concerning organisation, structure, achievements and tactics.
...n of their cabinet, while others may choose to create a new political path without consulting the views of their party. Mellon thinks that the Canadian government is under dictatorial scrutiny, whereas Barker contradicts this belief. The idea of a prime-ministerial government is certainly an over exaggeration of the current state of Canada. There are too many outside and inside forces that can control the powers the Prime Minister of Canada. Furthermore, there are several outside sources that indicate a good government in Canada. The United Nations annually places Canada at the top, or near the top of the list of the world’s best countries in which to live. These outcomes are not consistent with the idea of a one ruler power. Canada is not ruled by one person’s ideas, suggestions, and decisions, but by government approved and provincially manipulated decisions.
Stevenson, Garth. "Canadian Federalism: The Myth of the Status Quo." Reinventing Canada: Politics of the 21st Century. Ed. M. Janine Brodie and Linda Trimble. Toronto: Prentice Hall, 2003. 204-14. Print.
The New Democratic Party focuses their attention on all of the classes in Canada. It doesn’t matter if you are from low-class, middle-class, or high-class; the NDP will make sure that your requests and concerns are taken care of. The other major political parties put more of their focus into taking care of the higher-class and the lower-class that the middle-class is disregarded or forgotten most of the time. The NDP would make sure that this doesn’t happen if they were elected with a majority. Citizens of Canada should vote for the New Democratic Party because if elected, they promise to improve the environmental situation, provide better health care for Canadians, and improve the economy in Canada.
On the Canadian political spectrum, GPC is in the center but shares many principles and policies with the Liberal party. This classification challenges common belief surrounding the Greens, which typically places them on the left due to their environmental values and support of regressive taxation.1
The post-war time was a period where major changes were occurring. After being involved in two international conflicts, Canada was ready to reestablish their economy. During this time, Canada had started working on ways to become stronger and reputable. It is evident that Canada had matured through the post-war era. Canada’s economic progress left a positive impact on the growth of the country as consumerism became popular, and economic ties with America became stronger. Moreover, the removal of racial and ethical barriers contributed to Canadian social affairs such as the huge wave of immigration and the baby boom. The Canadian government also had become more aware and involved in issues impacting Canadian citizens. Canada as a whole started identifying itself as an independent nation and participating in events that brought a positive reputation amongst them. These economical, social, and legal changes helped Canada mature into the country it is today.
There have been many different parties surface since the beginning of the American political system. They all have had different thoughts, policies, and motivations. Each party has their own agenda some have made significant contributions and others have not. The first split, and beginning of the party system, came with the variation between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two parties were extremely different in thought, strategies, and status of people involved such as their leaders and believes on how to run the government. The Federalists worked to create a stronger national government, supported British in foreign affairs, and favored a national bank. The Democratic-Republican Party operated to advocate states’ rights, supported the French in foreign affairs and opposed a national bank. These are some of the differences that set apart these two major government Parties.
However, the proposed systems must be thoroughly examined for their compatibility with Canada’s needs and their ability to resolve the issues outlined in this paper. From distortion in representation to Western alienation and to making the voices of minorities heard, the new system must also ensure that Parliament fulfills its role in representing, legislating, and holding the government. More importantly, after the current government abandoned its promise on electoral reform, it is important for researchers and future governments to build on the knowledge acquired by the Special Committee on Electoral Reform as well as previous experiences of the provinces with electoral
There are Canadian citizens who thought that the Canadian government we have is perfect, citizens who believed that every aspect of the government was truly democratic, and citizens who believe that government could do no wrong. Truly this group of believers has been living a lie. In our Canadian system of government, large aspects within are far from democratic and need to be changed. Liberal-minded people will cry out for a change in order for government to serve the people better, and on the other hand the more conservative thinkers will argue that no change is needed because our government is efficient and considerate. However, our voting system, our Senate, and the power vested to the Prime Minister are far from democratic, do not meet the actual needs of the people and definitely need to be addressed.
Different states have various ways of ruling and governing their political community. The way states rule reflects upon the political community and the extent of positive and negative liberty available to their citizens. Canada has come a long way to establishing successful rights and freedoms and is able to do so due to the consideration of the people. These rights and freedoms are illustrated through negative and positive liberties; negative liberty is “freedom from” and positive liberty is “freedom to”. A democracy, which is the style of governing utilized by Canada is one that is governed more so by the citizens and a state is a political community that is self-governing which establishes rules that are binding. The ‘Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ allow Canada’s population to live a free and secure life. This is demonstrated through the fundamental freedoms, which permit the people to freely express themselves and believe in what they choose. Canadians also have democratic rights authorizing society to have the right to democracy and vote for the members of the House of Commons, considering the fact that the House of Commons establishes the laws which ultimately influence their lifestyle. The tools that are used to function a democratic society such as this are, mobility, legal and equality rights, which are what give Canadians the luxury of living life secured with freedom and unity. Furthermore it is safe to argue that ‘The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’, proves the exceeding level of efficiency that is provided for Canadians in comparison to other countries where major freedoms are stripped from their political community.
First, some background on the subject. Canada is divided into 308 ridings, and each riding elects one person to represent all the citizens in that riding. The party that wins the most ridings forms the government, and if that party has gained more than half the seats, as is usually the case, they form a majority and have the ability to pass any bill in the House of Commons that they wish, regardless of the opinions that other representatives have. This SMP system has remained unchanged in Canada since Confederation in 1867. On the other hand there is proportional representation, which is broken down into two main forms: Mixed Member Proportionality (MMP) and Single Transferable Vote (STV). MMP was first put into use ...
Trying to apply new reforms in the Canadian constitution has been no easy task. The mixture of the parliamentary/monarchy powers denies the citizens’ direct participation in the government’s decision-making process and does not allow the existence of a complete free democratic system. A true democracy simply cannot fully exist with a restricted monarch selecting type of government and any reforms must be applied to make Canadian constitutions’ laws be based on democratic principles.
Canada is an example of a nation with the question of a country wide unification among all its citizens on the table since the time of confederation in 1867 and even a few years prior. What some these factors that make Canada different from areas around it? How can a country that dominates such large land mass and that bares such vast cultural differences, be united? Can Canadians ever come to agreement upon the values they hold to be important? The debates of these questions continue to plague Canadian parliaments, especially when examining the differences between Canada and the province Quebec. Even though many argue and hope for Canada’s unity in the future, the differences in political socialization and culture present throughout the country creates a blurry vision of Canadian harmony and makes it extremely difficult to realistically vision Canadian unification. Is that, however, a bad thing?
Canada has a central government designed to deal with the country as a whole. Things like national defense, banking, currency, and commerce are controlled by the central government. All other matters are left to the provinces to deal with. Such as education, hospitals, and civil rights are responsibilities of the states. The Canadian Parliament consists of two houses. Their Senate is made up of 104 members who serve until the age of seventy-five.
Modern liberalism and modern conservatism are both political outlooks that involve acceptance or support of the balance of the degree of social equality and social inequality; while they tend to avoid political changes that would result in extreme deviation of society to either side. Modern liberalism and modern conservatism tend not to be as centrist or middle-of-the-road ideologies as they once could be. Ideology is a set of ideas and beliefs that guide the goals, expectations, and actions of a group (Webster’s Dictionary). Individuals who are conservative or liberal tend to have views that align within a political party, whether it be Republican or democratic, but this is not always the case. There are conservative democrats, such as, Jim Costa and Jim Cooper and there are liberal republicans, such as, Nathaniel Banks and George Washington Julian. Another name for conservative democrats would be blue dog democrats while the nickname for liberal republicans is the Rockefeller republicans. These two ideologies tend to be more of the centrist ideologies. Modern liberals tend to be members of the Democratic Party because they support a wide range of welfare programs and government support of the public sector and tighter corporate regulations (PP Modern Liberalism). U.S. Conservatism evolved from classical liberalism, which makes them similar, yet there is many differences between modern conservatism and modern liberalism. There are principles and tenets that govern each ideology. A tenant is a belief or idea that is held as being true from a group (Webster’s Dictionary). In understanding both ideologies, it is imperative to have an understanding of classical liberalism. Classical liberalism was built on ideas from the seventeenth ...