Canadian Politics: Canadians Don't Know How Their Government Works
Written by Richard MarcusPublished December 17, 2008
Part of Canadian Politics in Review
EDITED BY ME
I had wondered how Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, expected to get away with calling normal parliamentary procedures like a vote of non-confidence and a coalition government "treason" and "coup d'etat". How could any member of parliament be so cynical as to expect not to get caught in such an outright lie? In fact he himself became Prime Minister after "overthrowing" a government in 2005 through the same non-confidence procedure and winning the subsequent election. True he didn't have the opportunity to form a coalition government, but that's mainly because nobody wanted to join forces with him, and the government he defeated had been sitting for two years, not 27 days.
Well, now I know the answer. According to a survey (see below for a short version) conducted between December 9 and December 12, after the whole circus died down in Ottawa, a majority of Canadians don't know that we don't directly elect our Prime Minister, who the head of state is, or how to best describe our system of government. On the plus side, 90 percent knew that a Governor-General could refuse to let a sitting government call an election upon losing a vote of confidence in the House Of Parliament.
Well, judging by the results of their survey if 51 percent of Canadians believe that the Prime Minister of Canada is elected by direct vote like the American President, is it any wonder that the Conservative Party was able to convince people that the proposed coalition government of a couple weeks ago was "undemocratic"?
Aside from not understanding how the parliamentary system of government works, which has been in place since 1867 when the country was formed, only a bare majority knew that we are a constitutional monarchy. Finding out that Canadians are ignorant about such basic precepts when it comes to the government they live under is not only embarrassing, but more than a little scary.
Maybe it doesn't seem like such a big deal to some of you that most Canadians think either the Prime Minister or the Governor-General are head of state, or that they can't name the style of government we live under. They will accept anything offered to them by the government. As it is said, “Ignore your rights and they will go away.”-me
This shows not only a complete lack of knowledge as to how our system of government works at its most basic, but just how few people actually vote in federal elections. If you've ever stepped into a polling booth on election day in Canada to cast a vote, you'd have noticed that nowhere on the ballot is there a place to vote for Prime Minister. Even if the margin of error, 3.1%, for this survey is factored in, it means that forty-eight per cent of Canadians of eligible voting age have never stepped inside a voting booth, or don't understand what it is they are doing when they cast a ballot.
Canada works under a system of parliamentary democracy where the country is divided up into electoral districts called ridings based on population density. Each riding represents one seat in the House of Commons, and political parties select candidates to run as their representative in each riding. The political party that elects the most candidates forms the government with the leader of that party becoming Prime Minister.
If no party wins an outright majority of seats in the House of Commons the one with the most seats tries to rule with either the support of another party or on its own. A minority government can lose votes in the house without having to resign except for one on financial matters or if the other parties pass a motion of non-confidence. When that happens the Prime Minister asks the Governor-General, the Queen's (the head of state) representative in Canada, to dissolve parliament so a new election can be called. The Governor-General has the option of asking the opposition if they feel like they can form a government, or the opposition can ask the Governor-General for the chance to form a government if they can offer proof of their ability to govern. That would usually require a coalition of parties with sufficient votes in the House to defeat a motion of non-confidence, and a guarantee that the coalition would last for a particular length of time.
In order for a democracy to work a country's population has to at least understand how their system of government works. If they don't they can be manipulated by unscrupulous leaders who would take advantage of their ignorance to prevent the checks and balances built into the system from working. When a government under a parliamentary system does not receive a majority of the seats in the House of Parliament, it is understood that they do not have sufficient support to be a representative voice of the country. It is the opposition's responsibility to ensure that the governing party is responsible to the whole country, not just those who voted for them, and ensure that legislation represents the majority as much as possible.
Now, when the opposition acts like they are supposed to, calling the government on legislation they did not think represented the best interests of the entire country, Stephen Harper accused them of attempting to overthrow the government and usurping the democratic process. He was able to get away with that because too many Canadians don't understand how their own system of government works.
Marc Chalifoux, president of The Dominion Institute, summed up the situation succinctly when commenting on the survey: "Canadians certainly were interested by what was going on in Ottawa but lacked, in many cases, the basic knowledge to form informed opinions." When the people a system of government is supposed to represent don't understand how it works they surrender what voice they might have had in its process. If the people of a country have no voice in their government can it really be called a democracy?
Until Canadians can get it together to understand even the most basic principles of their own system of government they will remain at the mercy of who ever wields power in Ottawa [it is the corporations, bankers and their lobby groups. The money given is less than it is in the US, but it still means the same thing. That is, they are controlled and don’t give a rat’s ass about you]. Until that time we are a democracy in name only.
New Survey Demonstrates that Canadians Lack Basic
Understanding of our Country’s Parliamentary System
Half of Canadians (51%) Believe the Prime Minister is Directly Elected by Voters
and Three in Four (75%) Don’t Know Who Canada’s Head of State Is
According to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of the
Dominion Institute in the wake of the constitutional crisis, many Canadians appear to be unsure of some basic Canadian political knowledge, including how the Prime Minister is elected and who Canada’s head of state is.
Canadians are split on whether the Prime Minister is directly or indirectly elected by the people of Canada. One half (51%) believes he is directly elected, while the other half (49%) believes he is not. In fact, the Prime Minister is not directly elected, as Canadians vote for
their local Member of Parliament, and the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament is invited by the Governor General to become Prime Minister.
Four in ten (42%) believe that the Prime Minister is Canada’s head of state, and one in three (33%) think this title belongs to the Governor General. In truth, though, the Queen is Canada’s Head of State, and only one quarter (24%) of Canadians knew this. [actually, the fiction title of the queen holds quite a lot of power. She/ it decides to go to war and has power over you getting a passport. Look it up on google...don’t be lazy.].
How is the Prime Minister Elected?
Canadians are split on how the Prime Minister of Canada is elected. While one half (51%) believes that he is directly elected, one half (49%) does not.
• In contrast, a majority of Atlantic Canadians (65%) do not believe he is directly elected, and the same can be said about those living in Alberta (58%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (56%), Ontario (53%), and British Columbia (51%). Only three in ten Quebecers (30%) believe this.
Who is Canada’s Head of State?
Much confusion exists when it comes to knowing who Canada’s head of state is. Four in ten
(42%) believe that the Prime Minister is Canada’s head of state, and one in three (33%) think this title belongs to the Governor General. Only one quarter (24%) knows it’s the Queen.
How is Canada’s Government Best Described?
Six in ten (59%) Canadians were correctly able to identify Canada as a ‘constitutional monarchy’. Four in ten gave an incorrect response, believing that it was best described as a ‘cooperative assembly’ (25%) or a ‘representative republic’ (17%).
Can the Governor General Refuse the Prime Minister?
Nine in ten (90%) Canadians believe that the Governor General has the power to refuse the Prime Minister’s request for an election. Just 10% do not.
http://www.dominion.ca/DominionInstituteDecember15Factum.pdf
And it seems, I have no polling data, that very few Canadians realise that Canada is not even a country but a bankrupt corporation. [check it, it’s true and documented. See the ‘think free forums’ or the criminal code]. And it seems that about the same meager number know that they have a person BUT are not a person.
