Regionally based grievances
Regionally based grievances, such as Western alienation and Quebec separatism, are a defining feature of Canadian politics. Identify and explain 3 features of Canadian political institutions that contribute to these regional rifts. (Considerations may include Canadian federalism, theories of confederation, representation in the legislative branch, and the electoral system).
Canadian federalism: Federalism is a political system in which government power and responsibility is divided between a federal legislature and state or provincial legislatures. The Canadian federalism has brought the differences in Canada by considering smaller parts not sovereign and therefore cannot legally secede. It has swung between the extremes of centralizing control and decentralizing it.
The federal government has jurisdiction over the entire country and each provincial government has jurisdiction over its portion of the population and region. Both levels of government get their authority from Canada’s written Constitution but it includes features that are incompatible with a strict approach to federalism. Canadian federalism has been tested throughout the country’s history and remains a subject of great debate.
Theories of confederation in Canada: The Canadian Confederation was the process by which the three colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were united into one federation called the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. Over the years since Confederation, Canada has seen numerous territorial changes and expansions which has resulted in the current number of ten provinces and three territories. There has been an extensive scholarly debate on the role of political ideas in Canada confederation. For example, most traditional historians regarded Canadian Confederation as an exercise in political pragmatism that was essentially non-ideological.
In the 1960s, historian Peter Waite derided the references to political philosophers in the legislative debates on Confederation as “hot air”. According to him, Confederation was driven by pragmatic brokerage politics and competing interest groups. Again in 1987, political scientist Peter J. Smith challenged the view of the Canadian Confederation as one that was non-ideological.
Smith argued Confederation was motivated by new political ideologies as much as the American and French Revolutions and Canadian Confederation was driven by a Court Party ideology. In 2000, a journal article and historian called Ian McKay argued that Canadian Confederation was motivated by the ideology of liberalism and the belief in the supremacy of individual rights.
McKay described Confederation as part of the classical liberal project of creating a liberal order in northern North America. This has caused regional differences as some regions are in support for the confederation while others are against it.The Canadian electoral system: Canada naturally adopted
British institutions of electoral democracy. Elections in Canada use a first-past-the-post system, whereby the candidate that wins the most votes in a constituency is selected to represent that riding. Elections are governed by an elaborate series of laws and a well-developed administrative apparatus.
They occur at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels. Canada’s federal election system is governed by the Canada Elections Act and administered by the Chief Electoral Officer while provincial election systems, governed by provincial election acts.
The Canadian electoral system creates regional rifts in that some electoral positions in some regions are contested through parties while others are contested by individual. For example, federal and provincial campaigns and that of Yukon, are party contests in which candidates represent political parties while municipal campaigns and those of Northwest Territories and Nunavut, are contested by individuals, not by parties.
