Week 3 Lecture F2023 1030A Part 2

Canada’s Democratic and Constitutional Foundations

Canada’s political system is primarily based on the Westminster parliamentary model, inherited from British political traditions. The lecture notes that British settlement and political dominance shaped Canada’s institutions, often at the expense of Indigenous peoples and traditions.

Canada also adopted federalism, which divides constitutional authority between a national government and provincial governments. The lecture connects this model to the United States and notes that some scholars trace ideas of federalism to Indigenous communities, including the Haudenosaunee.

Unlike a unitary state with a single constitutional level of government, Canada has a federal government and 10 provincial governments.

Voting and Elections

The lecture describes voting as a foundation of democracy. To vote in Canada, a person must be a Canadian citizen, be at least 18 years old on election day, and provide proof of identity and address. Voters may register at their polling station on election day or register in advance through the National Register of Electors.

Federal elections divide the country into 338 constituencies, also called ridings. Each riding elects one Member of Parliament (MP). Canada uses a single-member plurality system, commonly known as first-past-the-post:

• Voters choose one candidate in their riding.
• The candidate with more votes than any other candidate wins, even without a majority.
• For example, a candidate could win with 40% of the vote if the remaining 60% is split between two other candidates.

Most successful candidates belong to political parties; independent candidates are rarely elected.

Federal Political Parties

The lecture presents the parties’ general ideological positions as follows:

• Liberal Party of Canada: Usually centrist and described as a “brokerage” or “catch-all” party, adjusting its position in response to public opinion and party leadership. The lecture says it has won roughly 60% of federal elections since Confederation.
• Conservative Party of Canada: Generally centre-right, although its position can vary with public opinion and its leader. The lecture describes Pierre Poilievre as further to the right than his predecessor, Erin O’Toole.
• New Democratic Party (NDP): Characterized as a strongly left-wing, socialist party. The lecture says it has been influential but has never formed the federal government.
• Bloc Québécois: Runs candidates only in Quebec and focuses on Quebec’s interests, sovereignty, and independence.
• Green Party: Primarily focused on environmental issues, alongside other concerns.

Forming the Government and the Role of Opposition

After an election, the Governor General asks the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons to form a government. In practice, this is usually the party with the most seats, though the constitutional principle is confidence rather than simply seat count. The leader of the governing party becomes Prime Minister.

The party with the next-largest number of seats usually becomes the Official Opposition, whose role is to scrutinize and hold the government accountable.

The lecture describes Canada’s system as adversarial: the governing party and opposition parties challenge one another in the legislature. This contrasts with consensus-oriented systems that emphasize cooperation and compromise.

The Political Executive, Parliament, and the Governor General

The Prime Minister and Cabinet together form the political executive—the institution the lecture identifies as the government of Canada. The Prime Minister appoints Cabinet members, who are generally MPs from the governing party. Ministers oversee government departments, such as National Defence, Justice, Finance, and Immigration.

The executive’s principal functions include proposing bills and spending plans, usually through a budget; implementing approved laws and regulations; and developing policy and legislative proposals.

Parliament considers the executive’s proposals. The House of Commons has 338 elected MPs, who debate, review, amend, and vote on bills and budgets.

The Governor General represents the Crown in Canada. According to the lecture, the Governor General is appointed by the sovereign on the Prime Minister’s advice and performs formal functions, including giving bills formal assent.

The lecture challenges the idea that Canada has no meaningful separation of powers. Although the executive and legislature are closely connected, Parliament must approve spending and legislation, creating significant checks between them.

The Senate

Canada’s Parliament has two chambers:

• The elected House of Commons
• The appointed Senate

Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the Prime Minister’s advice. The lecture lists eligibility requirements as Canadian citizenship, being between 30 and 75 years old, residence in the relevant province or territory, and specified property and net-worth requirements. Senators serve until age 75 and review and approve legislation passed by the House of Commons.

The Senate’s traditional purpose is to provide “second sober thought”: a further review of legislation by members who are not seeking election.

The chambers differ in how they represent Canadians. House of Commons seats are allocated primarily according to population, while Senate seats are allocated by region based on arrangements dating to 1867. The lecture also notes that each territory has one Senate seat.

Confidence of the House and Election Timing

Confidence of the House means that the government can maintain enough support in the House of Commons to carry out its agenda. A budget vote is conventionally treated as a confidence vote, and a government may declare another important bill to be a confidence matter.

If the government loses a confidence vote, the Prime Minister normally asks the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call an election. In rare circumstances, the Governor General may instead invite another party to try to form a government.

A government may remain in office for a maximum of five years before an election is required, but it can lose confidence or call an early election sooner. The lecture notes that leaders may seek an early election for strategic reasons.

Provincial Government

Provincial systems generally resemble the federal model: voters elect representatives in single-member plurality ridings, and the leader able to command the legislature’s confidence becomes the Premier. Premiers appoint provincial Cabinets, typically from members of their parties.

A key difference is that provinces do not have upper legislative chambers. Provincial party systems can also differ from the federal party system and from one province to another. The lecture notes that connections among provincial and federal NDP organizations have historically been stronger than connections among Liberal or Conservative parties.

Federalism and the Division of Powers

The Constitution assigns responsibilities to federal and provincial governments, originally distinguishing issues considered national from those considered local in 1867.

The lecture lists the following examples:

• Federal responsibilities: Trade and commerce, taxation, postal services, national defence, currency, citizenship, and criminal law.
• Provincial responsibilities: Hospitals, municipalities, education, natural resources, administration of law, and some taxation powers.
• Shared or overlapping matters: The environment, health care, old-age pensions, and agriculture.

Powers not specifically assigned to either level are described as residual powers belonging to the federal government, associated with its authority to legislate for the “peace, order and good government” of Canada.

Municipalities are not a separate constitutional order of government. They are created and governed by provincial governments, which can change their structure and responsibilities.

Federalism is not always a neat division of separate responsibilities. The lecture compares it to a marble cake, because government responsibilities overlap and change over time.

Resolving Federal–Provincial Disputes

Governments often coordinate through executive federalism, in which federal and provincial leaders or ministers negotiate policies and shared arrangements. Intergovernmental meetings among ministers are one example.

Negotiations may involve federal funding in exchange for provincial commitments to provide services or meet shared standards. When negotiations fail, governments may take disputes to court.

The lecture describes the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain as Canada’s highest court of appeal until 1949, despite the creation of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1867. It says the Privy Council often favoured provincial governments in federalism disputes, while the Supreme Court tended to favour the federal government. In 1949, the Supreme Court of Canada became the country’s final court of appeal.

The Constitution Act, 1982 and the Charter

In 1982, Canada “patriated” its Constitution, establishing a Canadian process for constitutional amendments rather than requiring British legislation. The Constitution Act, 1982 included the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects individual and collective rights.

The Charter gave people a way to challenge laws in court as violations of constitutional rights, rather than relying only on political lobbying and elections. The lecture says this contributed to a shift from federalism cases toward Charter litigation, including cases concerning abortion, same-sex marriage, and search and seizure.

Judicial Power and the Debate over Judicial Activism

The growth of Charter litigation has increased the courts’ influence in political and policy disputes. The lecture outlines two broad perspectives:

• Support for stronger judicial review: Courts can protect minority rights that might otherwise be overridden by majority politics.
• Concern about judicial activism: Unelected judges may be making decisions on contentious policy issues that should be left to elected representatives. This view favours judicial restraint and political decision-making.

The lecture presents this as an ongoing debate about the balance between protecting rights and maintaining democratic accountability.

Speakers and Sources Featured

The speaker is one lecturer, identified by the channel as Dr. Alcantara. The course textbook and assigned readings are mentioned, but no specific title or author is given. No additional speakers or recorded interview sources appear in the subtitles.