Is Canada really a true democracy...?

Question

Is Canada really a "true democracy"?

I thought democracy was all about having a majority of citizens voting for your party... But like, what, just over a quarter of Canadians voted for Stephen Harper?

And then theres the unholy CDP alliance (Conservatives and NDP working together in parliment to create a majority that can bash down on the liberals)...

...With the Conservatives and NDP having an "agreement" made behind closed doors, they become an unstoppable force in Parliment and can do pretty much whatever they want...

Now, I'm only 15, I don't understand everything here, but doesn't it seem a little odd to call Canada a "true democracy" when, once elected, a majority government can screw the people over?

North American Union...

Thats all tosh. That will NEVER happen...

If you knew something about Canada, you would know this:

We are not united by a language.

We are not united by a culture...

We are not united by a religion.

We are not united by geography.

We are not united by political ideals.

These are the things that usually unite a country.

Well, in Canada they're the things that tear us apart... Especially those darn frenchmen.

So, what holds Canada together?

Fear of being American. If you study Canadian confederation, you will see that Canada was created to defend against Manifest Destiny (America's selfish dream that they will control North America)...

"We could learn a lot from the States"...

No way. The States has a crap government that owes five trillion dollars and loses wars left and right.

If anything, they could learn something from us...

Aspects of democracy are nice.

Complete democracy is a vile system in which the 51% can supress the rights of the 49%.

Answer 1

No it's not a "true" democracy.
It's a Federated Constitutional British Parliamentarian Democratic Monarchy.
You wouldn't want a true democracy, you would have to deal with the tyranny of the majority then.

Answer 2

Canada is a democracy, a constitutional monarchy. Our head of state is the Queen of Canada, who may be Queen of Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and a bunch of alternative international locations scattered around the globe from the Bahamas and Grenada to Papua New Guinea and Tuvalu. Every act of presidency is finished within the title of the Queen, however the authority for each act flows from the Canadian humans. Canada isn't just an impartial sovereign democracy, however may be a federal state, with 10 broadly selfgoverning provinces and 3 territories administered via the valuable executive. - "How Canadians Govern Themselves" First Edition 1980 By Forsey, Eugene A. (Eugene, Alfred), 1904-1991 My opinion is that Canadians revel in a wider scope of Freedom then do Americans

Answer 3

What do you mean by "true democracy"? If every one had one vote each and voted on everything that was done by the society collectively, then you would have a true democratic situation. In practical terms most people do not want to vote on everything all the time, so we elect a representative to a government (federal, provinicial, municipal and regional), and they get the responsibility of sorting things out between them. If only a percentage of those eligible to vote in Canada do so, then we get the kind of government we deserve. Also you seem to misunderstand what the government is. The elected members of parliament set the policy or direction of the country by passing laws. The civil service, which is not elected but hired, is responsible for carrying out those directions. The system is not perfect, both the interaction between the elected members and the senior civil service, and our first-past-the-post voting system, but it is a lot better than having a king or queen, or a dictator or one party system like communism. You have a choice, be glad you live here and not in a dictatorship.

Answer 4

Canada is a true democracy. The thing about Canadian politics is that there's 4 major political parties so the vote can be split many ways. WHo ever wins the most vote wins but in order to have a majority in the House you need half of all votes. I dont see many majority governments in the future

Answer 5

It's only slightly more of a democracy than the USA, there are too many ways to get around the system anyway. Probably the closest to a democracy is your municipal government.

Answer 6

Not even close. Lets face it, the people are not getting what they want. I think we could learn a lot from the states about how to run politics.

Anyone who told you Canada is a "true democracy" should be hanged

Answer 7

Maybe, but not for long. Ever heard of the North American Union? Heh. It's "The Brave New Orwellian World".