Is Canada a direct democracy

Answer 1

Constitutionally, Canada is a British-styled parliamentary democracy, a 'confederation' of 10 provinces and 3 territories, with a 'constitutional monarch' as head-of-state. Canada's "ceremonial" head-of-state is shared in common with The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries. Since one person, presently Queen Elizabeth II of Canada, cannot be in all countries at once, a Goveror-General is appointed, technically by The Monarch though at the recomendation of the Prime Minister of Canada. The Governor-General resides in Canada, at a residence in Ottawa, near the parliament buildings.

Canada has two Houses of governance, The House of Commons (or legislature) and The Senate. It also has a Supreme Court. Since its "Confederation" in 1867 , Canada has possessed a written Constitution, modified on occasion since then, most recently in 1982.

Executive Authority in Canada is "real" (i.e. "non-ceremonial"), executed by the leader of the House of Commons, the 'Prime Minister' (or PM), in the name of the monarch. The PM is generally leader of the political party winning either the majority of seats ('majority parliament') or largest number of seats (minority parliament) to the House of Commons ('parliament') during a federal election, much as occurs in the UK and most other Commonwealth countries. Parliamentarians are elected to a seat in "The Commons" on a first-past-the-post basis; in Canada "ridings" map to parliamentary seats, much as 'electoral districts' or a 'constituency' might in other democracies. The PM is appointed "party-leader" by his or her political party alone; before assuming power as PM, however, the leader must first be elected to a seat in the HoC .

The PM appoints to his/her 'Cabinet' "ministers" who head the various federal governmental departments, called "ministries". Generally, these ministers are elected to a riding in the HoC before being appointed to Cabinet; in exceptional cases they may be appointed from The Senate. Ministries control federal jurisdictions as are defined by The Canadian Constitution.

Unlike Britain's second house of governance, "The House of Lords", the Canadian Senate is not hereditary; though the same word 'Senate' is used both in Canada and the US, function and structure differ significantly in each country. Canadian senators are appointed by the Prime Minister in the maner of Supreme Court judges, in accordance with a rough "rep-by-pop" formulation, having been successfully vetted by a "Commons Committee". The Canadian Senate can, in principle, but generally does not introduce legislation, just as it can but generally does not veto bills; its convention is to review legislation introduced in the House of Commons, providing 'sober second thought' on legislative proposals. Furthermore, Senators are frequently used to populate or coordinate investigations ("committees"), either on behalf of the Government or of the Government. Senate reform is a fequent topic of discussion in Canada: some would abolish The Senate altogether; others would replace "rep-by-pop" with a fixed number of senatorial seats per province; others would replace the current appointment mechanism with elections.

The usual process for introducing federal legislation is: 1st reading: House of Commons; review by the Senate; 2nd reading HoC; review by Senate; 3rd Reading and final approval by HoC; presentation to head-of-state for signature (generally, the Governor-General). Of late, legislation has sometimes been referred during its formulation to the Supreme Court for comment during its formulation through the two Houses.

Canada's Supreme Court functions largely in the manner of The US Supreme Court. Its principle role is to weigh judgments in the context of the Canadian Constitution; originally framed at the time of Confederation 1867, the Constitution was updated most recently in 1982 . The Canadian Constitution defines the political jurisdictions of the federal and provincial governments, and enshrines individual rights through its 'Charter of Rights'. Canadian Supreme Court judges are named by The PM but vetted by committee before assuming office.

Each of Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories has its own elected parliament; they are structured and functioning in a manner that strongly parallels the federal system. Each province has its own ceremonial head-of-state, for example, "The Lieutenant Governor" (pronounced "leff-tenant"); while executive executive authority is exercised by a "Premier", who is both leader of a provincial political party and elected to represent a provincial 'riding' before assuming office. The Constitution defines provincial jurisdictions (distinct from federal jurisdictions), and the premiers appoint ministers to head their respective provincial ministries to govern those jurisdictions. Provinces do not have Senates, so provincial Ministers are chosen from persons elected to a seat in the provincial "House" or "Legislature" during a provincial election . Provincial legislative "due process", absent any senate review, is similar to federal, new "bills" becoming law once the Lieutenant-Governor signs them into law.

Answer 2

Canada is both a monarchy and a democracy in that it is a constitutional monarchy in which the powers of state are vested in the Sovereign and exercised by democrat-ically elected Representatives headed by a Prime Minister who in turn is able to command confidence of a majority in a House of Commons.

Another term for this form of government is "Crowned Republic" which is not at all contradictory but, rather, quite accurate as it describes the power of the people exercised under the authority of the Crown.

Although Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is both Queen of the United Kingdom and Queen of Canada (along with being monarch of an additional 14 realms in the Caribbean and South Pacific) she reigns independently as Sovereign of each individual nation. The Queen of the United Kingdom has no jurisdiction over the Queen of Canada who in turn has no sovereignty over the Queen of Australia. Elizabeth II is legally sixteen Queens sharing one body.

Answer 3

Technically Canada is neither. We are a constitutional monarchy. The highest power in Canadian politics is not the PM, or any other Canadian citizen for that matter, rather, the Queen of England, a non elected official.

The difference between a democracy and republic lies in the ultimate source of official power. In a democracy, power lies within the rule of the majority, and in a republic, it lies with a charter.

The United States for example is a republic rather than a democracy

Answer 4

No, Canada is a representative democracy.

But having said that, members of political parties are compelled to vote along party lines.

Freedom to vote is limited to infrequent "FREE VOTES".

Failure of a bill, especially a money bill, results in a non-confidence result causing an immediate general election.

This is common where minority governments are in place.

Minority governments are where a single party has more elected that any other single party, but less than the combined opposition party members.

Answer 5

It is meant to be. In a direct democracy the citizens themselves take part in government decisions. In a representative democracy the citizens elect someone to act on their behalf.

Getting those elected to act on behalf of the citizens is a problem in Canada at the federal level. Thanks to many things including party rule many of those elected represent the system not the citizens.

Answer 6

I have no idea