Canadian electoral system has a lot of unique elements.

The Canadian Electoral System


The Canadian electoral system is special in many ways. It also uses the first past the post voting method, which means that the person with the smallest vote wins. This article discusses the different components of the system as well as the problems that emerge. It also addresses how the first-past-the-post election method has avoided proportionality. Finally, it examines the advantage of proportionality of every election scheme from the standpoint of the Canadian electoral system.

Representative Federal System


The Canadian voting system is a representative federal system. The structure is based on a parliamentary monarchy. Members of Parliament are elected by the people. The head of the majority of members of the parliament becomes the prime minister. The prime minister then becomes the head of government. The federal elections are held every four years on the first Thursday of October. The members of parliament represent ridings. Currently, there are 338 ridings. The ridings or the electoral districts are non-overlapping constituencies which cover all areas in Canada (Norton 86). The voters in the electoral districts elect one member to the parliament to the House of Commons. Unlike many countries, The Senate does not constitute elected leaders.

Registered Political Parties


There are political parties that form part of the political system in Canada. The system has a registry for the political parties. The website of the registry notes that there are a total of sixteen (16) registered parties as at 2017. During the elections, each political party is required to nominate a member for the federal elections in the ridings. Despite the many registered political parties, the dominant political parties whose members make it to parliament are the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, The Bloc Quebecois, the New Democratic Party and the Green Party (Mitchell 57).

Formation of the Government


The party that forms most of the riding members is to create the government. Therefore, the formation of the state government is heavily dependent on the representation of the people at the House of Commons. The majority leader then becomes the prime minister in the government. Then there is also a difference between a minority and a majority government. The majority government forms when the party forming the government has garnered one hundred and seventy (170) seats or above. If the seats are one hundred and sixty-nine or fewer, then a minority government is formed. There is a fundamental difference between the two. The majority government easily passes the legislation to implement their policies. The minority government, on the other hand, has to adjust laws and systems to obtain votes from other party members. The official leader of the opposition is the leader of the second-largest party regarding membership in the House of Commons.

The First-past-the-post Voting System


The electoral system in Canada has adopted the first-past-the-post system of election. Therefore, there is the simplest form of the majority of the single members in each of the ridings. Canada inherited the system from Great Britain's system of voting. The inception of this operation took place in the 1800s when there were two main political parties and a time when it has succeeded in other areas such as Nova Scotia. It can be classified as such because the voting is candidate-centered. Candidates nominated by the parties represent the voters, and voters are only allowed to make one choice of all the presented candidates (Norton 88). The candidates that win are the candidates' voters of the person garnering most of the votes cast. The candidates do not need the clear majority beyond the relative majority. It, therefore, means that the person with the majority can be a representative without widespread support of the constituents.

Issues with the First-past-the-post System


Additionally, the votes cast only count on a riding-by-riding basis for the candidates whose names are on the ballot as opposed to the political parties. Canada has clung to this system due to its ability to produce a stable government with strong opposition. For example, of all the 38 Confederation elections, only eight have resulted in a minority government, and each of them has had strong oppositions which keep the government on its toes.

Lack of Proportionality


The first-past-the-post voting system is not proportional. It excludes small parties from what may be called fair representation. Conversely, it over-rewards the larger parties. It is this reason that only makes the Liberal party, Conservative Party, The Bloc Quebecois, Green Party, and the New Democratic Party the only dominant parties whose candidates can make it to the House of Commons. An example is the 1993 federal elections where the Conservative Party obtained a total of 16% of the total votes cast. However, this percentage only translated to 0.7% of the seats garnered. A similar case was the June 2004 federal election where the Green Party garnered 4% of the total votes cast but was not able to secure any seat in the House of Commons (Mitchell 68).

Exclusion of Minorities


The Canadian voting system also ensures that the political parties can garner seats without equal voice of the popular vote. Further, it excludes minority groups (Norton 87). Because of the single candidacy style of voting, most of the parties employ racial discrimination in nomination to ensure that their nominated candidates can garner broad support in the ridings. The result of this is that the minority develops the constant feeling of hopelessness that they will never get to employ an individual to represent their interests. Smaller parties have a leeway of getting seat bonuses thus enhancing the number of seats as compared to the popular vote.

Advantages of Proportional Voting


The first-past-the-post system differs sharply with proportional voting. Proportional voting is a voting system that communicates a more accurate view of the ideal political situation. It means that in such a voting system, the percentage of the elected representatives with a particular belief corresponds with the portion of the persons holding the belief. Three families of proportional voting have multi-member districts or ridings. Proportional voting discourages the development of political parties based on clan or region and gives the representation of the people's voices a national outlook. This system also ensures that women and minorities have hope of electing a person who can represent their interests.

Conclusion


Today, the society in Canada has changed. The injustice caused in the representation of the minority and women in Canada outweighs the advantage of a stable government. There is, therefore, the dire need for a paradigm shift in the voting system in Canada to reflect the current needs of the society.

Work Cited


Mitchell, Michael Gallagher, and Paul. The politics of electoral systems. New York: OUP

Oxford, 2005.

Norton, Philip. “The case for First‐Past‐The‐Post.” Representation 34.2 (1997): pp. 84-88.

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