1 / 13

Slide Deck 9: Federal Elections

Slide Deck 9: Federal Elections. Why do we have elections?. What is an election?. An election is the process for determining our political representatives and the political direction of our government

blowery
Download Presentation

Slide Deck 9: Federal Elections

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Slide Deck 9: Federal Elections

  2. Why do we have elections?

  3. What is an election? • An election is the process for determining our political representatives and the political direction of our government • Elections are contests of leadership, ideas, politics and power, where interested groups and individuals campaign for our support and, ultimately, our vote

  4. What is a candidate? • An individual who seeks public office or competes for the job of elected representative is called a candidate • At the federal and provincial levels, most candidates are associated with a political party • Apolitical party brings together people with similar political views and goals who are seeking to effect change by being elected

  5. An electoral system is the way in which voters are able to express their preferences and how the results are determined. Different electoral systems exist around the world.

  6. What is an electoral district? • Canada is divided into 338 electoral districts (or ridings), which are defined geographic areas • The size of electoral districts is determined by factors such as population size, demographic make-up and geography • Urban electoral districts are often smaller and more populous, while rural electoral districts are larger with less dense populations. Yukon has 1 electoral district for the whole territory, whereas the city of Toronto has 25.

  7. Map of official results for the 42nd general election (2015)

  8. Electoral districts across Canada Provinces and Territories British Columbia 42 Alberta 34 Saskatchewan 14 Manitoba 14 Ontario 121 Quebec 78 New Brunswick 10 Prince Edward Island 4 Nova Scotia 11 Newfoundland and Labrador 7 Yukon 1 Northwest Territories 1 Nunavut 1 Cities Vancouver 15 Calgary 10 Edmonton 9 Regina 3 Winnipeg 8 Toronto 25 Ottawa 8 Montreal and Laval 23 Quebec City 5 • There are 49 electoral districts for the general election on September 24, 2018.

  9. What is our electoral system? • Canada uses a system called First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) or Single-Member Plurality • Only one member is elected per electoral district • The rules: • Voters can only choose one candidateon their ballot • The candidate that receives the most votes wins (this is called plurality)

  10. How does First-Past-The-Post work? An example of FPTP, in an electoral district with 100 ballots cast: CANDIDATENUMBER OF VOTES Lisa (Banana Party) 40 Mohamed (Pear Party) 15 Emma (Apple Party) 11 Thomas (Independent) 34 Lisa wins because she has the most votes (40). The winning candidate does not need receive support from a majority of voter – just one more vote than any other candidate.

  11. Registered Political Parties in Canada Alliance of the North Animal Protection Party of Canada Bloc Quebecois Christian Heritage Party of Canada Communist Party of Canada Conservative Party of Canada Green Party of Canada Liberal Party of Canada Libertarian Party of Canada Marijuana Party Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada National Citizens Alliance of Canada New Democratic Party People’s Party of Canada Progressive Canadian Party Rhinoceros Party Question: Can you guess which issues these parties feel strongly about?

  12. How do political parties work? • Anyone above the required age (usually 14 years old) can join the party • Party members choose their party’s leader and candidates, and help them get elected • During elections, parties release a platform which is a series of policy ideas linked to specific issues

  13. FINAL THOUGHTS Which party or candidate will best address my interests and concerns for the province? Which issue is most important to you in the election? Why?

More Related