Politics of Canada

Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a Commonwealth Realm (see Monarchy in Canada) with a federal system of parliamentary government, and strong democratic traditions. Many of the country's legislative practices derive from the unwritten practices of and precedents set by the United Kingdom's Westminster parliament; however, Canada has evolved variations. Party discipline in Canada is stronger than in the United Kingdom, and more of the votes are considered confidence votes, which tends to diminish the role of non-cabinet Members of Parliament (MPs), known as backbenchers. Backbenchers can, however, exert their influence by sitting in parliamentary committees, like the Public Accounts Committee or the National Defence Committee.

Additional impacts of funding changes (safe seats, small parties, televised debates)

Canadian federal ridings vary in competitiveness. Some are "safe" seats, like Ottawa-Vanier, which has voted in a Liberal MP every election for over 50 years. The changes to the campaign funding structure likely had an impact on voting, and certainly had an impact on electoral strategy, in such safe seats.

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In safe seats, less-competitive parties face two problems. The first problem is "strategic voting." Here, supporters of less-competitive parties vote for the candidate of a party they prefer less, but which is more competitive. By doing so they might defeat the MP holding the "safe" seat, who they may prefer least of all. The second problem is apathy. Here, supporters of less-competitive parties may not see the point in voting for their preferred party, when their party's candidate has no hope of winning. But rather than casting a "strategic" ballot, they simply stay home.

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However, under the new rules, the strategy of less-competitive parties became to let the electorate know that if they voted for a party that the party would receive benefits (i.e., funding). Often the amount was explained to the voters. So even if the seat was clearly safe, their voting would have a greater impact than it had in the past.

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The smaller the party, the stronger this argument became. It is likely this factor which increased the Green Party's share of the national vote.

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Even though the new rules likely had the most impact for smaller parties, this strategy was probably used by all parties to try to increase their percentage of the vote. For supporters of the party holding the safe seat, one could argue that even if their vote was not needed to secure the seat for the party, it still made a difference to party funding.

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Commonly, two national debates receive nationwide coverage during an election, one in each official language. Both debates are broadcast in translation, so it is possible to watch either debate without a working knowledge of the language of the debate, although part of the meaning can be lost. People who are bilingual enough to understand both the English- and French-language debates without need of translation will get a better idea of the substances of the two debates and the differences between them if they decide to watch both debates.

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Currently only the parties represented in Parliament participate in the debates. The Green Party, however, has argued that it should also be allowed to participate. Its share of the vote has increased greatly, due in part to the new funding formula, in part because it ran in many more ridings than in previous elections, and in part to increased popularity.

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Also, having received 6% of the vote in British Columbia, they will have a stronger case for being included in the debates in future elections, based on past precedent. The Bloc Québécois was allowed to participate in debates on the basis of its support in Quebec, even before it had elected any MPs in a general election. (The Bloc's MPs at the time had either switched parties or won in by-elections.) Also, the Bloc participates in English-language debates despite running no candidates outside Quebec. Furthermore, the Reform Party of Canada was included in debates when it had only a single MP, on the basis of anticipated support. So past party performance or number of seats is not how participants are chosen.

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