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