Politics Eh! Not So Different. - Page 2

Ironically those parties who complain the most about this system actually benefit from it. Whilst their popular vote may not translate into power, their ability to win seats with lower population bases offsets that loss. To those not used to this system it may appear strange, but it gets the job done as well as any other.

One of the oddities of the Canadian system is the non elected Senate. Loosely based on the British idea of the House of Lords, instead of inherited seats, these are awarded as rewards for serving the country. In reality they are handed out by the serving government as retirement presents.

Each province has a designated number of senators representing them, and they are replaced on retirement by the sitting federal government. Primarily they are there to rubberstamp bills passed by the house. It is only on the rarest of occasions that any bill is rejected. Even then all the House of Commons need do is re pass the motion and it succeeds anyway.

In America there is what’s known as the system of checks and balances. The three branches of government: The President, The Legislative, and The Judiciary. Canada’s Judiciary plays a similar role to their counterparts in the U.S. in that at the Superior and Supreme Court levels they ensure that bills passed by Parliament adhere to the constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Both countries follow similar procedures for appointing high court judges in that the sitting government is given authority to select it’s membership as vacancies occur. Due to the less extreme political climate of Canada there is usually less of a furor surrounding these appointments.

Up until twenty five years ago the Supreme Court of Canada was not even the final point of appeal. As Canada was still governed by an act of British Parliament(The British North American Act) supplicants could in theory still appeal to the British for a final judgement.

All of this changed with the repatriation of the Constitution in the early eighties by Prime Minister Trudeau’s government. After a contentious battle with the separatist government of Quebec, nine of the then ten provinces passed bills enabling Canada to have it’s own governing documents.

While the constitution itself was widely seen as symbolic, a statement of final independence from Britain, the accompanying Charter of Rights and Freedoms has become the biggest political hot potato in Canadian History.

Almost every law, act and even assumptions of behaviour have now had to be scrutinized through the lens of it’s focus. This has seen the repeal of many laws that have been ruled in violation of the Charter, and the creation of new ones to enforce the spirit of the Charter.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the forthcoming book What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and has had his work published in print and on line all over the world. The not so long-haired Canadian iconoclast writes reviews and opines on the world as he sees …

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