1.
Alberta
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Alberta is a western province of Canada. With an estimated population of 4,196,457 as of July 1,2015, it is Canadas fourth-most populous province and its area is about 660,000 square kilometres. Alberta and its neighbour Saskatchewan were districts of the Northwest Territories until they were established as provinces on September 1,1905, the premier has been Rachel Notley since May 2015. Alberta is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U. S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to only a single U. S. state and one of only two landlocked provinces. About 290 km south of the capital is Calgary, the largest city in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton centre Albertas two census metropolitan areas, both of which have populations exceeding one million, while the province has 16 census agglomerations. Tourist destinations in the province include Banff, Canmore, Drumheller, Jasper, Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Victoria, Queen of Canada, and Albert, Prince Consort. Princess Louise was the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named in her honour. Alberta, with an area of 661,848 km2, is the fourth largest province after Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. To the south, the borders on the 49th parallel north, separating it from the US state of Montana. The province extends 1,223 km north to south and 660 km east to west at its maximum width, with the exception of the semi-arid steppe of the south-eastern section, the province has adequate water resources. There are numerous rivers and lakes used for swimming, fishing, there are three large lakes, Lake Claire in Wood Buffalo National Park, Lesser Slave Lake, and Lake Athabasca which lies in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. The longest river in the province is the Athabasca River which travels 1,538 km from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca, the largest river is the Peace River with an average flow of 2161 m3/s. The Peace River originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta and into the Slave River, Albertas capital city, Edmonton, is located approximately in the geographic centre of the province. It is the most northerly city in Canada, and serves as a gateway. The region, with its proximity to Canadas largest oil fields, has most of western Canadas oil refinery capacity, Calgary is located approximately 280 km south of Edmonton and 240 km north of Montana, surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of the population lives in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The land grant policy to the served as a means to populate the province in its early years
2.
History of Alberta
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What is today the province of Alberta, Canada has a history and prehistory stretching back thousands of years. Recorded or written history begins with the arrival of Europeans, the rich soil was ideal for growing wheat, and the coming of the railroads in the late 19th century led a to large-scale migration of farmers from Eastern Canada, the United States, and Europe. Wheat remains important, but the farms are larger and the rural population much smaller. Alberta has urbanized and its base has expanded from the export of wheat. The ancestors of todays First Nations in Alberta arrived in the area at least 8,000 years BC, more northerly tribes, like the Woodland Cree and the Chipewyan also hunted, trapped, and fished for other types of game in the aspen parkland and boreal forest regions. Later, the mixture of native peoples with French fur traders created a new cultural group. The Métis established themselves to the east of Alberta, but after being displaced by white settlement, following the arrival of outside European observers it is possible to reconstruct a rough narrative history of the nations of what later became Alberta. Using later-recorded oral histories as well as archaeological and linguistic evidence, in both cases the evidentiary base is thin, however. It is believed that at least some parts of the Great Plains were depopulated by a period of the drought during the Medieval Warm Period. The area was repopulated once the drought subsided, by peoples from a number of language families. The Numic languages are from the Uto-Aztecan language family and came to the Plains from the southwest, algonquian speakers are originally from the northeast. The Siouxan peoples speak a family of different from both of the above, and are from southeast. There are also small offshoots of the Na-Dene languages from the far northwest found on the Plains, the smallest unit of organization for both Plains and Subarctic people was what the European-Canadian explorers called a lodge. A lodge was a family or other close-knit group who slept together in the same teepee or other dwelling. Lodges travelled together in groups which anthropologists call bands, in the case of the Blackfoot during the historic era this would include 10 to 30 lodges, or roughly 80 to 240 persons. The band was the unit of organization on the Plains for both hunting and warfare. Bands were loose associations that could be formed and dissolved depending on circumstances, which gave their member lodges much freedom, but also less certainty. Therefore, people would also be bound to others in variety of other groups, such as common descent, common language and religion
3.
Alberta separatism
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In the past, tariff walls to promote the growth of tractor production in Ontario increased the cost of tractors for Alberta. In the 1980s, the National Energy Policy was seen as disadvantaging Albertas interests, the Alberta economy had been traditionally based on ranching, and in the last years of the 20th century, been bolstered by considerable revenues from oil and gas production. Alberta has developed a culture that is more conservative, in both economic and social issues, than the rest of Canada. Separatism emerged in the 1930s within the Social Credit Party, which formed the Government of Alberta, the Government of Canada, at the urging of the banks and newspapers in Alberta, overruled legislation passed by the Alberta legislature to implement a form of social credit as being unconstitutional. Premier William Aberharts followers started calling for separation from Canada, but Aberhart himself counselled moderation, the separatist movement was ridiculed by the media as a fringe movement of the uneducated. In 1980, a separatist movement emerged in western Canada that attracted thousands of people to rallies, gordon Kesler was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in a by-election in Olds-Didsbury as a candidate of the Western Canada Concept party. In response, Premier Peter Lougheed called an election in which the party nominated 78 candidates in the provinces 79 ridings. Although the party won almost 12% of the vote, Kesler was defeated after changing ridings. Under Mulroney, the NEP was rapidly dismantled, political events in the early 21st century have led to a resurgence in interest in Alberta separatism. In the 2004 federal election, the governing Liberal Party of Canada was returned with a minority government despite allegations of corruption,61. 7% of Albertans voted for the opposition Conservative Party and 22. 0% of Albertans supported the Liberals. Alberta contains the second largest proven reserves of oil, behind only Saudi Arabia. Despite these events, Alberta separatism is still a minority movement, as of 2014, no elected political parties or Members of the Legislative Assembly in Alberta favour secession. In the 2004 general election, the Separation Party of Alberta nominated 12 candidates who won 4,680 votes,0. 5% of the provincial total. This was less support than the Alberta Independence Party had attracted in the 2001 election, some pundits have predicted that this result will cause support for separatism to ebb away. The notion of Alberta secession from Canada has gained sympathy from some figures within Albertas conservative parties, in January 2004, Premier Ralph Klein told the Canadian edition of Readers Digest that one in four Albertans were in support of separation. An August 2005 poll commissioned by the Western Standard pegged support for the idea that Western Canadians should begin to explore the idea of forming their own country. At 42% in Alberta and 35. 6% across the four Western provinces Support for Alberta separatism has increased in the mid-2010s, the increased interest among Albertans for separation from Canada has been the subject of several media reports. Separatism and Quasi-Separatism in Alberta, Prairie Forum, Sep 2007, Vol.32 Issue 2, pp 335–355 Larry Pratt & Garth Stevenson Western separatism, the myths, realities & dangers Michael Wagner
4.
Politics of Alberta
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Politics of Alberta are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of the province is Edmonton, where the provincial Legislative Building is located, the unicameral legislature, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, has 87 members. Government is conducted after the Westminster model, the provincial governments revenue, although it is often described as predominantly coming from the provinces resource base, actually is derived from a variety of sources. Alberta is the province in Canada without a provincial sales tax. Alberta has a system of government similar to that of the other provinces. However, for over 80 years, the province was governed by right-wing parties, which began in 1935, with Social Credit, Edmonton was the exception to the provinces previous right-wing voting pattern, earning it the nickname Redmonton. The 2004 provincial election was an example, the Liberals and New Democrats won 15 of the citys 18 seats, stelmach gave way in 2011 to Alison Redford, the provinces first female premier. She led the Tories to a 12th consecutive election victory in 2012, Redford was forced to resign in 2014, and was ultimately succeeded by former federal minister Jim Prentice. Albertas right-wing tilt is no less pronounced on the federal level, the province was the heartland of the former Reform Party of Canada and its successor, the Canadian Alliance. These parties were the second-largest political parties in the federal Parliament from 1997 to 2003, the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form todays Conservative Party of Canada. Rural Alberta ridings typically give the Conservatives some of their highest margins in the country, in many cases, Albertas political stability has led to a series of political dynasties. Voters have turned a government out of only four times in 110 years. The previous two governments, prior to 2015, were among the longest-lived in the Commonwealth, for example, in the 2004 election, the Progressive Conservative party won 61 of 83 seats but obtained only 47% of the popular vote. Many of the opposition parties today include electoral reform in their policies, in its history, Alberta has seen only five parties form governments. No governing party, once defeated, has returned to power. Most of the 27 Alberta general elections held as of 2011 have resulted in overwhelming majorities in the Legislature for the governing party, no minority government has ever existed in Alberta, whether by general elections, by-elections, or floor crossings. Both the provincial Progressive Conservatives and the Reform/Alliance parties reflect Albertas more socially conservative nature when compared to other provinces, politicians elected by Albertans tend to oppose social policies such as same-sex marriage and gun control. Some Albertans continue to resent the imposition in the 1980s of the National Energy Program by the Liberal federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and it was considered to be an intrusion by the federal government in an area of provincial responsibility
5.
Provinces and territories of Canada
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Canadas geography is divided into administrative divisions known as provinces and territories that are responsible for delivery of sub-national governance. Over its history, Canadas international borders have changed several times, the ten provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Several of the provinces were former British colonies, Quebec was originally a French colony, the three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, which govern the rest of the area of the former British North America. Together, the provinces and territories make up the worlds second-largest country by area, the powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be co-sovereign divisions, the territories are not sovereign, but simply part of the federal realm, and have a commissioner who represents the federal government. Notes, There are three territories in Canada, unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, the following table lists the territories in order of precedence. Prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were united as the Province of Canada, over the following years, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were added as provinces. The Hudsons Bay Company controlled large swathes of western Canada referred to as Ruperts Land and the North-Western Territory until 1870, subsequently, the area was re-organized into the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The remaining Arctic islands were transferred by Britain to Canada in 1880,1898 saw the Yukon Territory, later renamed simply as Yukon, carved from the parts of the Northwest Territories surrounding the Klondike gold fields. On September 1,1905, a portion of the Northwest Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba were expanded northward, Manitobas to the 60° parallel, Ontarios to Hudson Bay, in 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada with Newfoundland facing a period of economic crisis. In 2001, it was officially renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1903, the Alaska Panhandle Dispute fixed British Columbias northwestern boundary. This was one of two provinces in Canadian history to have its size reduced. In 1999, Nunavut was created from the portion of the Northwest Territories. Yukon lies in the portion of The North, while Nunavut is in the east. All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, covering 3,921,739 km2 in land area and they are often referred to as a single region, The North, for organisational and economic purposes
6.
Constitutional monarchy
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A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign exercises their authorities in accordance with a written or unwritten constitution. A constitutional monarchy may refer to a system in which the acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution. Political scientist Vernon Bogdanor, paraphrasing Thomas Macaulay, has defined a constitutional monarch as a sovereign who reigns, in addition to acting as a visible symbol of national unity, a constitutional monarch may hold formal powers such as dissolving parliament or giving royal assent to legislation. Many constitutional monarchies still retain significant authorities or political influence however, such as through certain reserve powers, the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms are all constitutional monarchies in the Westminster tradition of constitutional governance. Three states – Malaysia, Cambodia and the Holy See – are elective monarchies, the oldest constitutional monarchy dating back to ancient times was that of the Hittites. These were scattered noble families that worked as representatives of their subjects in an adjutant or subaltern federal-type landscape, the most recent country to move from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy was Bhutan, between 2007 and 2008. At the same time, in Scotland the Convention of Estates enacted the Claim of Right Act 1689, although Queen Anne was the last monarch to veto an Act of Parliament when in 1707 she blocked the Scottish Militia Bill, Hanoverian monarchs continued to selectively dictate government policies. For instance George III constantly blocked Catholic Emancipation, eventually precipitating the resignation of William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister in 1801, Queen Victoria was the last monarch to exercise real personal power but this diminished over the course of her reign. In 1839 she became the last sovereign to keep a Prime Minister in power against the will of Parliament when the Bedchamber crisis resulted in the retention of Lord Melbournes administration, today, the role of the British monarch is by convention effectively ceremonial. No person may accept significant public office without swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen, with few exceptions, the monarch is bound by constitutional convention to act on the advice of the Government. Constitutional monarchy also occurred briefly in the years of the French Revolution. As originally conceived, a monarch was head of the executive branch and quite a powerful figure even though his or her power was limited by the constitution. In many cases the monarchs, while still at the top of the political and social hierarchy, were given the status of servants of the people to reflect the new. In the course of Frances July Monarchy, Louis-Philippe I was styled King of the French rather than King of France, following the Unification of Germany, Otto von Bismarck rejected the British model. However this model of constitutional monarchy was discredited and abolished following Germanys defeat in the First World War. Later, Fascist Italy could also be considered as a constitutional monarchy and this eventually discredited the Italian monarchy and led to its abolition in 1946. After the Second World War, surviving European monarchies almost invariably adopted some variant of the constitutional monarchy model originally developed in Britain, nowadays a parliamentary democracy that is a constitutional monarchy is considered to differ from one that is a republic only in detail rather than in substance. However, three important factors distinguish monarchies such as the United Kingdom from systems where greater power might otherwise rest with Parliament, other privileges may be nominal or ceremonial
7.
Representative democracy
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Representative democracy is a type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy. Representative democracy is often presented as the most efficient form of democracy possible in mass societies and it arguably allows for efficient ruling by a sufficiently small number of people on behalf of the larger number. Government efficiency can be judged based on metric of cost effectiveness, representatives voting on behalf of the people allows for a monetary benefit as there is lessened use of polling stations, vote counters, etc. The government is responsible for paying for the wages of the representatives. This system of governance is also time efficient as decisions can be made by a select few and it is a system in which people elect their lawmakers, who are then held accountable to them for their activity within government. It has been described by political theorists including Robert A Dahl, Gregory Houston. In it the power is in the hands of the representatives who are elected by the people in elections. Representatives are elected by the public, as in elections for the national legislature. Elected representatives may hold the power to other representatives, presidents, or other officers of the government or of the legislature. The constitution may also provide for some deliberative democracy or direct popular measures, however, these are not always binding and usually require some legislative action—legal power usually remains firmly with representatives. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him, their opinion, high respect, their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs, and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man. These he does not derive from your pleasure, no, nor from the law and they are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his only, but his judgment. The Roman Republic was the first government in the world to have a representative government. In Britain, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments, the first, in 1258, stripped the King of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from the towns. Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England pioneered some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy culminating in the Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution led to the creation of a new Constitution of the United States in 1787
8.
Capital city
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A capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city that encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective government. In some jurisdictions, including countries, the different branches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the capital and the seat of government, which is in another place. The word capital derives from the Latin caput, meaning head, in several English-speaking states, the terms county town, county seat, and borough seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In unitary states, subnational capitals are known as administrative centres. The capital is often, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent, historically, the major economic centre of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or federation. Examples are Ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, Ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Changan, Ancient Cusco, Madrid, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna, and Berlin. Some of these cities are or were also religious centres, e. g. Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem, Ancient Babylon, Moscow, Belgrade, Paris, and Peking. A capital city that is also the economic, cultural. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal, traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, e. g. Nanking by Shanghai, Quebec City by Montreal, and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its city, as occurred at Babylon. Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no legal designation as such, for example Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Paris, are located in or near them. In Canada, there is a capital, while the ten provinces. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil, and Australia all have capital cities, for example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. In Australia, the capital cities is regularly used, to refer to the aforementioned state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra and Darwin. Abu Dhabi is the city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent countries, such as the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Denmark, the national capitals of Germany and Russia, the Stadtstaat of Berlin and the Federal City of Moscow, are also constituent states of both countries in their own right
9.
Edmonton
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Edmonton /ˈɛdməntən/ is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, the city anchors the north end of what Statistics Canada defines as the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The city had a population of 932,546 in 2016, making it Albertas second-largest city, also in 2016, Edmonton had a metropolitan population of 1,321,426, making it the sixth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada. Edmonton is North Americas northernmost city with a population over one million. A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian, Edmontons historic growth has been facilitated through the absorption of five adjacent urban municipalities and a series of annexations ending in 1982. Known as the Gateway to the North, the city is a point for large-scale oil sands projects occurring in northern Alberta. Edmonton is a cultural, governmental and educational centre and it hosts a year-round slate of festivals, reflected in the nickname Canadas Festival City. It is home to North Americas largest mall, West Edmonton Mall, in 1754, Anthony Henday, an explorer for the Hudsons Bay Company, may have been the first European to enter the Edmonton area. By 1795, Fort Edmonton was established on the north bank as a major trading post for the Hudsons Bay Company. The new forts name was suggested by John Peter Pruden after Edmonton, London, the home town of both the HBC deputy governor Sir James Winter Lake, and Pruden. In 1876, Treaty 6, which includes what is now Edmonton, was signed between the Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Queen Victoria as Queen of Canada, as part of the Numbered Treaties of Canada. The agreement includes the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine, and other governments of First Nations at Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt. The area covered by the treaty represents most of the area of the current provinces of Saskatchewan. The arrival of the CPR and the C&E Railway helped bring settlers and entrepreneurs from eastern Canada, Europe, U. S. the Edmonton areas fertile soil and cheap land attracted settlers, further establishing Edmonton as a major regional commercial and agricultural centre. Some people participating in the Klondike Gold Rush passed through South Edmonton/Strathcona in 1897, in November 1905, the Canadian Northern Railway arrived in Edmonton, accelerating growth. During the early 1900s, Edmontons rapid growth led to speculation in real estate, in 1912, Edmonton amalgamated with the City of Strathcona, south of the North Saskatchewan River, as a result, the city extended south of the North Saskatchewan River for the first time. Just prior to World War I, the boom ended, many impoverished families moved to subsistence farms outside the city, while others fled to greener pastures in other provinces. Recruitment to the Canadian army during the war contributed to the drop in population
10.
Unicameralism
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In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism, many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple chambers allowed for guaranteed representation of different social classes, ethnic or regional interests, where these factors are unimportant, in unitary states with limited regional autonomy, unicameralism often prevails. Unicameral legislatures are also common in official Communist states such as the Peoples Republic of China, similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Romania and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures. Both the former Russian SFSR and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were bicameral, the two chambers were the Soviet of Nationalities and the Soviet of the Union. The Russian Federation retained bicameralism after the dissolution of the USSR, the principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it costs, even if the number of legislators stay the same, since there are fewer institutions to maintain. There is also the risk that important sectors of society may not be adequately represented, approximately half of the worlds sovereign states are currently unicameral, including both the most populous and the least populous. Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures, and all of the Brazilian states. In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Congress of Deputies of Second Spanish Republic was unicameral between 1931 and 1936. Dissolved at the end of Spanish Civil War, the actual Spanish Parliament is bicameral, Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan was unicameral before being replaced in 2005 by the current, bicameral Supreme Assembly. National Assembly of Cameroon was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, chamber of Peoples Representative of Equatorial Guinea was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, bicameral Parliament of Equatorial Guinea. National Assembly of Kenya was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kenya in 2013. National Assembly of Ivory Coast was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Ivory Coast in 2016. Nebraskas state legislature is also unique in the sense that it is the state legislature that is entirely nonpartisan. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesota Legislature into a unicameral chamber. Although debated, the idea was never adopted, if those constitutional changes had been approved, Puerto Rico could have switched to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015
11.
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
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The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, the Legislative Assembly consists of 87 members, elected first past the post from single-member electoral districts. Since 2011, Alberta has fixed election date legislation, fixing the election to a date between March 1 and May 31 in the calendar year following the preceding election. Alberta has never had a minority government, so an election as a result of a vote of no confidence has never occurred. To be a candidate for election to the assembly, a person must be a Canadian citizen older than 18 who has lived in Alberta for at least six months before the election. Senators, senators in waiting, members of the House of Commons, the currently seating assembly is 29th Alberta Legislative Assembly. The current members of the Legislature were elected in the 29th Alberta general election held on May 5,2015, bold indicates cabinet members, and party leaders are italicized. Legislative Assembly of Alberta web site Canadian Governments Compared
12.
Westminster system
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The Westminster system is a parliamentary system of government modelled after that which developed in the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British parliament, the system is a series of procedures for operating a legislature. However, some colonies have since adopted either the presidential system or a hybrid system as their form of government. Examples include Queen Elizabeth II, the governors-general in Commonwealth realms, or the presidents of many countries, exceptions to this are Ireland and Israel, whose presidents are de jure and de facto ceremonial, and the latter possesses no reserve powers whatsoever. A head of government, known as the minister, premier. While the head of state appoints the head of government, constitutional convention suggests that a majority of elected Members of Parliament must support the person appointed. If more than half of elected parliamentarians belong to the political party. An exception to this was Israel, in which direct prime-ministerial elections were made in 1996,1999 and 2001, an independent, non-partisan civil service which advises on, and implements, decisions of those ministers. Civil servants hold permanent appointments and can expect merit-based selection processes, a parliamentary opposition with an official Leader of the Opposition. A legislature, often bicameral, with at least one elected house – although unicameral systems also exist, a lower house of parliament with an ability to dismiss a government by withholding Supply, passing a motion of no confidence, or defeating a confidence motion. The Westminster system enables a government to be defeated or forced into a general election independently, a parliament which can be dissolved and snap elections called at any time. Another parallel system of principles also exists known as equity. Exceptions to this include India, Quebec in Canada, and Scotland in the UK amongst others which mix common law with legal systems. Unlike the uncodified British constitution, most countries use the Westminster system have codified the system, at least in part. The pattern of executive functions within a Westminster System is quite complex, in essence, the head of state, usually a monarch or president, is a ceremonial figurehead who is the theoretical, nominal or de jure source of executive power within the system. In practice, such a figure does not actively exercise executive powers, in the United Kingdom, the sovereign theoretically holds executive authority, even though the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Cabinet effectively implement executive powers. In a parliamentary republic like India, the President is the de jure executive, even though executive powers are essentially instituted by the Prime Minister of India and the Council of Ministers. In Israel, however, executive power is vested de jure and de facto in the cabinet, as an example, the Prime Minister and Cabinet generally must seek the permission of the head of state when carrying out executive functions
13.
Politics of Canada
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The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a monarchy, in which the Monarch is head of state. The country has a multi-party system in many of its legislative practices derive from the unwritten conventions of. Such members, in the government caucus, and junior or lower-profile members of opposition caucuses, are known as backbenchers, backbenchers can, however, exert their influence by sitting in parliamentary committees, like the Public Accounts Committee or the National-Defence Committee. Smaller parties like the Quebec nationalist Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party of Canada have also been able to exert their own influence over the political process, far-right politics has never been a prominent force in Canadian society. Thus in 1931, the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster, giving recognition to the autonomy of Canada. Similarly, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain continued to make the decision on criminal appeals until 1933. Name Canada Type of government Westminster style federal parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy, National holiday Canada Day, July 1. Constitution Westminster system, based on unwritten conventions and written legislation, suffrage Citizens aged 18 years or older. Only two adult citizens in Canada cannot vote, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, the Governor General is eligible to vote, but abstains due to constitutional convention. Citizens residing outside of Canada for a greater than 5 years are excluded from voting beginning 2015. Description of national flag A red maple leaf centred on a Canadian pale, head of state Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. Viceroy David Lloyd Johnston, Governor General of Canada, head of government Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Cabinet Ministers chosen by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Governor General to lead various ministries and agencies, the Governor General is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister for a non-specific term, though it is traditionally approximately five years. Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons is usually designated by the Governor General to become Prime Minister, the bicameral Parliament of Canada consists of three parts, the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons. Currently, the Senate, which is described as providing regional representation, has 105 members appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister to serve until age 75. It was created with equal representation from each of Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime region, however, it is currently the product of various specific exceptions, additions and compromises, meaning that regional equality is not observed, nor is representation-by-population. The normal number of senators can be exceeded by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, the House of Commons currently has 338 members elected in single-member districts in a plurality voting system, meaning that members must attain only a plurality rather than a majority
14.
Sales tax
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A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase, when a tax on goods or services is paid to a governing body directly by a consumer, it is usually called a use tax. Often laws provide for the exemption of certain goods or services from sales, conventional or retail sales tax is levied on the sale of a good to its final end user and is charged every time that item is sold retail. Sales to businesses that later resell the goods are not charged the tax, the tax is otherwise charged on each item sold to purchasers without such a certificate and who are under the jurisdiction of the taxing authority. Other types of taxes, or similar taxes, include the following, Manufacturers sales tax. Wholesale sales tax, a tax on sales of wholesale of tangible personal property when in a packaged and labeled ready for shipment or delivery to final users and consumers. Retail sales tax, a tax on sales of retail of tangible personal property to final consumers, gross receipts taxes, levied on all sales of a business. They have been criticized for their cascading or pyramiding effect, in which an item is taxed more than once as it makes its way from production to final retail sale. Excise taxes, applied to a range of products, such as gasoline or alcohol. Use taxes are imposed by states with a sales tax but are usually enforced only for large items such as automobiles. Securities turnover excise tax, a tax on the trade of securities, value added tax, in which tax is charged on all sales, thus avoiding the need for a system of resale certificates. Tax cascading is avoided by applying the tax only to the difference between the price paid by the first purchaser and the price paid by each subsequent purchaser of the same item, fairTax, a proposed federal sales tax, intended to replace the US federal income tax. Turnover tax, similar to a tax, but applied to intermediate. Most countries in the world have sales taxes or value-added taxes at all or several of the national, state, county, countries in Western Europe, especially in Scandinavia, have some of the worlds highest valued-added taxes. Norway, Denmark and Sweden have higher VATs at 25%, Hungary has the highest at 27% although reduced rates are used in cases, as for groceries, art, books. In some jurisdictions of the United States, there are levels of government which each impose a sales tax. For example, sales tax in Chicago, IL is 10. 25%, consisting of 6. 25% state,1. 25% city,1. 75% county, Chicago also has the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority tax on food and beverage of 1%. For Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the tax is 10%, which is 5% each of state & local, in L. A. it is only 8. 75%, which is 7. 25% state and 1. 5% county
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Sales taxes in Canada
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In Canada, three types of sales taxes are levied. British Columbia adapted HST between 2010 and 2013, but eventually abolished the system after a province-wide referendum, the HST is collected by the Canada Revenue Agency, which then remits the appropriate amounts to the participating provinces. Every province except Alberta has implemented either a provincial sales tax or the Harmonized Sales Tax, the federal GST rate is 5 percent, effective January 1,2008. The territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have no sales taxes. The three northern jurisdictions are heavily subsidized by the government, and its residents receive some additional tax concessions due to the high cost of living in the north. Separate Provincial Sales Taxes are collected in the provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. Prince Edward Island switched to a HST on April 1,2013, goods to which the tax is applied vary by province, as does the rate. In all provinces where the sales tax is collected, the tax is imposed on the sale price without GST. Of the provincial taxes, only the QST are value-added. The GST/HST, Creating an Integrated Sales Tax in a Federal Country, rotman School of Management Working Paper. GST/HST rates table at the Canada Revenue Agency Government of British Columbia, Sales Taxes Revenu Quebec website Revenu Québec (General Information Concerning the QST and the GST/HST
16.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
17.
United Farmers of Alberta
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As a political party, it formed the government of Alberta from 1921 to 1935. Since 1935, it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary, UFA was founded in 1909 as a government lobby group following a merger between the Alberta Farmers Association and Alberta branches of the Canadian Society for Equity. The UFA began as an organization whose aim was to be a lobby group promoting the interest of farmers in the province. Tregillus was the first president of the AFCEC, the UFA was a believer in the co-operative movement and supported womens suffrage. In 1912 women founded the parallel United Farm Women of Alberta, by 1920, UFA had become the most influential lobby group in Alberta with over 30,000 registered members. In 1919, the UFA won a by-election in the Cochrane constituency, in 1921, Robert Gardiner won a seat in a federal by-election, becoming UFAs first Member of Parliament. Encouraged by this, UFA ran in 45 of Albertas 61 ridings in the 1921 provincial election. To the surprise of everyone, including themselves, UFA took 38 seats in the election, winning a majority government. UFA and Progressive party candidates also captured all but two of the Alberta federal seats in the 1921 federal election, as was the case with other United Farmer governments in Manitoba and Ontario, the UFA was elected unexpectedly and without a leader. To form its cabinet it went outside the Legislature to recruit a Premier, the UFA even approached Liberal leader Charles Stewart to remain as premier. Stewart declined, however, not wanting to lead the assembly as a member of the opposition, UFA President Henry Wise Wood also declined, and Vice-President Percival Baker, an elected MLA, died 24 hours after the election. Ultimately, UFA executive member Herbert Greenfield was named the first UFA Premier, among his cabinet were Irene Parlby, the second female cabinet minister in the British Empire, and Calgary Labour Party MLA Alex Ross as Minister of Public Works. The United Farmers government initiated several reforms, including improving medical care, broadening labour rights and it made good on its promise of electoral reform, bringing in a measure of proportional representation through the STV. In 1925, John E. Brownlee, who was widely believed to be the true leader of the United Farmers. Brownlee led the party to a majority government in the 1926 election. In 1929, after years of negotiating, Brownlee gained control over Albertas natural resources and this deal would later become a critical factor in Albertas economic success as the provinces oil deposits were exploited. The Great Depression had a impact on the United Farmers fortunes, as the crash in grain prices and simultaneous drought in southern Alberta hurt its support base. The government, with reduced tax revenue, engaged in cuts in services, staff, the province was in debt after the grandiose spending of the relatively prosperous 1920s
18.
Social Credit Party of Alberta
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The Canadian social credit movement was largely an out-growth of the Alberta Social Credit Party. The Social Credit Party of Canada was strongest in Alberta, before developing a base in Quebec when Réal Caouette agreed to merge his Ralliement créditiste movement into the federal party. The Alberta Social Credit party won a majority government in 1935, in the first election it contested, during its first years, when led by William Aberhart, it was a radical monetary reform party, at least in theory if not in effect. It stayed in power until 1971, one of the longest unbroken runs in government at the level in Canada. However, it has no seats since 1982, and finished a distant seventh in the 2012 and 2015 general elections. William Aberhart, a Baptist lay-preacher and evangelist in Calgary, was attracted to social credit theory while Alberta was in the depths of the Great Depression. He soon began promoting it through his program on CFCN in Calgary. Many study groups devoted to the theory sprang up across the province, from 1932 to 1935, Aberhart tried to get the governing United Farmers of Alberta to adopt social credit. There was widespread discontent with the overly cautious behaviour of the UFA government, the UFA government was also reeling from a scandal that had forced Reids predecessor, John Brownlee, to resign a year earlier. This, in particular, caused some socially conservative UFA members to transfer their allegiance to the Christian-based Social Credit movement. In the August 22,1935 election, much to its own surprise, Social Credit won a victory, taking 54% of the vote. The only elected opposition was five Liberals and two Conservatives, the UFA lost all of its seats in the worst defeat for a sitting provincial government in Canada. Alberta thus elected the first Social Credit government in the world, not even the Socreds had expected to win the election. Indeed, they hadnt even named a leader during the campaign, the Socreds now found themselves having to choose a formal leader who would become the provinces new premier. Aberhart was the choice, having been the partys driving force from the beginning. He didnt want the office, but was persuaded to take power and he was elected as leader and premier-designate at the partys first caucus meeting, and was sworn in on September 3. He became a Member of the Legislative Assembly a year later in a by-election, the first year and a half in power was a period of adjustment for the newly elected Socred MLAs and their premier. Negotiations between Aberhart and Douglas, who had hired by the UFA as a financial advisor, were colourful
19.
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
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The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta. The party formed the government, without interruption, from 1971 until the partys defeat in the 2015 provincial election. With seven Premiers and at 44 years, this was the longest unbroken run in government at the provincial or federal level in Canadian history, the party was created from the Northwest Territories Liberal-Conservative Party that existed from 1898 to 1905. Unlike its predecessor party, who formed government during its entire existence, the main policy difference between the Tories and the Alberta Liberal Party was over the Tories belief that the province should control its natural resources, which the province had been denied. However, those concerns fell on deaf ears in the midst of an economic boom, additionally, the Liberals had the advantage of incumbency, they were in office on an interim basis pending the first election. In the 1913 election, the Tories achieved a breakthrough, winning 18 seats, despite this result, and an even better result in the 1917 election, they were still unable to beat the Liberals. The Tories then split into traditional and radical camps, the party collapsed, and was unable to run a full slate of candidates in the 1921 election. Only one Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly was returned to the Legislative Assembly in this election, in which the new United Farmers of Alberta defeated the Liberals, for the next 45 years, the Tories were unable to elect more than a half dozen MLAs. The party was marginalized after the UFA was able to negotiate the provinces control of its resources from Ottawa, the Social Credit Party of Alberta took power on a populist and Christian conservative platform. Social Credit attracted conservative voters for decades, particularly after the party moved away from its radical social credit economic theories, supporters of both parties ran instead as independents. The failure of the coalition led to the reemergence of separate Liberal. The Tories only nominated five candidates in the 1952 election, only one of whom won election, the Conservatives were led in the general election of 1959 by William J. Cameron Kirby, Member of the Legislature for Red Deer from 1954 to 1959. The Tories became Progressive Conservatives in 1959 in order to conform with the name of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, the party continued to be unable to improve their fortunes, and by 1963 was swept out of the legislature altogether. In March 1965, Peter Lougheed became leader of the party and this approach was in stark contrast to the parochialism and rural agrarianism of Social Credit. In particular, the party started gaining support in Calgary and Edmonton, Social Credit had been very popular in urban areas for decades—indeed, long-serving Premier Ernest Manning represented an Edmonton riding. However, at bottom, it was a party. It was thus was slow to adapt to the changes in Alberta as its two largest cities gained increasing influence, in 1967, the Tories returned to the legislature, electing six MLAs. Lougheed became Leader of the Opposition, in 1968, Manning retired after 25 years, and was replaced by Harry Strom
20.
Ralph Klein
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Kleins tenure as premier ended when the Alberta Progressive Conservatives new leader, Ed Stelmach, assumed office December 14,2006, exactly fourteen years after Klein first became Premier. His nickname was King Ralph, a reference to his political longevity, Klein continued the PC dynasty, winning four consecutive majority governments. Klein was born in Calgary, to Phillip Andrew Klein and Florence Harper and his paternal grandparents were immigrants, from Germany and England, respectively. His parents separated when he was 6 and he lived with his grandparents in the citys north end. His father, Phil, was born in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, grew up poor, in the early 1940s he married Florence Harper, a waitress, and lived in her parents basement in Calgary while trying to make ends meet working in construction. After separating from his mother, Kleins father worked as a wrestler in the Alberta circuit for most of the 1950s using the name Phil The Killer Klein. Ralph Klein grew up in a part of Calgary and dropped out of high school, joined the RCAF reserves. Klein attended Calgary Business College, and later served as president of that institution and he later studied at Athabasca University. He was public relations official at the Red Cross and United Ways offices in Calgary from 1963 to 1969, from 1969 to 1980 he was a television reporter. Klein rose to prominence in Calgary as a radio and television personality. He was the Senior Civic Affairs reporter with CFCN-TV and CFCN radio, Klein gained his first political experience when he was elected 32nd mayor of Calgary, Alberta, on 15 October 1980, one of two mayors born in Calgary. He was re-elected in 1983 and 1986, during his tenure he presided over the 1988 Winter Olympics, the first Canadian city to host the games. The Calgary bid proposed by the Canadian Olympic Association, would spend three times what the rival Vancouver group proposed. Ralph Klein and other civic leaders crisscrossed the world attempting to woo International Olympic Committee delegates and he also oversaw the development of the Calgarys Light Rail Transit System and protection of the Bow River. While he was mayor, the city was enjoying an economic boom, Klein gained unfavourable national attention by blaming eastern creeps and bums for straining the citys social services and police. Klein made the transition from municipal to provincial politics, becoming a member of the assembly for the riding of Calgary-Elbow in the 1989 general election. He was named the minister of environment in Don Gettys government, Klein retained the title the Honourable for the duration of his membership in the Executive Council of Alberta. Getty knew that the Tories faced a general election in 1993
21.
Alberta Liberal Party
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The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it was the dominant political party until the 1921 election, since 1921, it has formed the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta several times, most recently from 1993 until 2012. Fourteen Liberals have served as Leader of the Opposition of Alberta, the Liberals formed the government in Alberta for the first 16 years of the provinces existence. Rutherford, Arthur L. Sifton and Charles Stewart led Liberal governments, John C. Bowen acted in the interim until a party convention chose Joseph Tweed Shaw, a former independent left-wing M. P. In the lead-up to the 1930 election, the party chose George H. Webster and he resigned in favour of William R. Howson, who led the party energetically if unsuccessfully in 1935. After he was appointed to the superior court in 1936. Discussions on a coalition of opposition forces began in the thirties to put together a strong opposition to the United Farmers government. The Liberals refused to join when their fortunes were going up during the leadership William Howson, at the height of Liberal popularity they had managed to lure two United Farmers MLAs to sit in the Liberal caucus. After the defeat of old line parties by Social Credit in the 1935 Alberta general election, Edward Gray, Liberal leader cautiously entered the party into the Unity Movement giving riding associations the opportunity to support Liberal candidates or Independent candidates. The Alberta Liberals were tepid to support the Independent Citizens Association led by John Percy Page and they wanted the Independents to remain independent and were against having a new party formed based on the coalition. The Liberals maintained the party organization by keeping the Constituency Associations, after Gray resigned the leadership on April 19,1941 to accept a patronage position the party did not officially replace him as leader until James Prowse in 1947. The President of the Party who stood for election annually, became the face of the party in all matters of party business. The party also kept a rump caucus from 1940 to 1944 that started out with one member, the Liberals despite internal pressure to break with the coalition agreed not to run candidates in the 1944 election. The party held a meeting on January 7,1946 to discuss proposals to participate in the 1948 Alberta general election, Prowse became the first true leader of the party in the post coalition era. He led the party from 1947 to 1958 leading to significant gains in popular votes and he resigned the leadership to run for Mayor of Edmonton, and was succeeded by John Walter Grant MacEwan, M. L. A. for Calgary City. MacEwan was beset by problems entirely beyond his ability to control, the electoral ability of any opposition party leader became very chancy with the abolition of the STV electoral system used for Edmonton and Calgary cities. MacEwan was the first of many leaders who faced a similar to those of Liberals in Britain. Ideologically, the party was being squeezed between traditional conservatism and social democracy, in a social sense, the party presented an older and more traditional image in comparison to the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, who, given the predominance of Social Credit, seemed fairly liberal
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Alberta New Democratic Party
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From the mid-1980s to 2004, the party abbreviated its name as the New Democrats. The party achieved Official Opposition status in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1986 to 1993 and it was swept out of the legislature in 1993 and spent the next two decades in the political wilderness. While it managed to get back into the legislature in 1997 and its time on the fringe of Alberta politics ended in the 2015 provincial election, when it won 54 of the 87 seats in the legislature to form the government of Alberta for the first time. Until 2015, Alberta had been the province in western Canada—the partys birthplace—where the NDP had never governed at the provincial level. The CCF did not run candidates under its name in the 1935 provincial election because of its ties with the UFA, the UFA lost all its seats in the election and fell into disarray. In 1936, William Irvine, a CCF founder and defeated UFA Member of Parliament, was elected the Alberta CCFs first president, the Alberta wing of the Labour Party federated with the CCF in 1935, but ran its own candidates in the 1935 and 1940 provincial elections. In the next two years party membership soared from 2,500 to over 12,000, roper was joined in the legislature by Aylmer Liesemer, a Calgary schoolteacher. Irvine also advocated an alliance with the communist Labor-Progressive Party under Albertas single transferable vote electoral system, through the 1940s and 1950s, the CCFs vote percentage declined, eventually falling under 10 percent. At any one time, the party never won more than two seats, the party was kept to two MLAs throughout the 1950s. Roper lost his seat in the 1955 election, in the same election, Stanley Ruzycki and Nick Dushenski were elected. Roper was succeeded as party leader by Floyd Albin Johnson, the CCF merged with the Canadian Labour Congress in 1961, becoming the New Democratic Party of Canada. In Alberta, the NDP was founded in 1962 with a new leader, Neil Reimer, with the election of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives in 1971, Social Credit gradually collapsed. The decline of Social Credit and the unpopularity of the Liberals gave the New Democrats an opportunity to become the focus of opposition to the Lougheed-led Conservatives. Popularity of the NDP gradually increased under leader Grant Notley, who led the party from 1968 until his death in a crash in 1984. In 1971, the NDPs popularity surpassed the 10% mark and went on to climb to 19% in the 1982 election, the party became the Official Opposition in 1982, though with only two seats. Notley was leading the NDP to what many thought was to be a breakthrough before his death. In the 1986 election, under Ray Martin, the party, now known as the NDs and this was to be an apex of New Democrat support. Party membership, which had rarely been more than 5,000 in the 1970s, the New Democrats were unable to gain additional seats in the 1989 election
23.
First-past-the-post voting
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First-past-the-post voting method is one of several plurality voting methods. It is a common, but not universal, feature of voting methods with single-member electoral divisions, the method is widely used in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and most of their current and former colonies and protectorates, and a few other countries. There is some confusion between highest vote, majority vote and plurality voting methods, all three use a first-past-the-post voting method, but there are subtle differences in the method of execution. First-past-the-post voting is used in two-round systems and some exhaustive ballots. First-past-the-post voting methods can be used for single- and multiple-member electoral divisions, in a single-member election, the candidate with the highest number – not necessarily a majority – of votes is elected. The two-round voting method uses a first-past-the-post voting method in each of the two rounds, the first round determines which two candidates will progress to the second, final-round ballot. In a multiple-member, first-past-the-post ballot, the first number of candidates – in order of highest vote, if there are six vacancies, then the first six candidates with the highest vote are elected. The Electoral Reform Society is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom which advocates abolishing the first-past-the-post method for all national and local elections. It argues FPTP is bad for voters, bad for government and it is the oldest organisation concerned with electoral methods in the world. States other than Maine and Nebraska use a form of simple plurality, first-past-the-post voting. Under a first-past-the-post voting method the highest polling candidate is elected, in this real-life example, Tony Tan obtained a greater number than the other candidates, and so was declared the winner, even though majority of voters did not vote for him. It is more likely that a party will hold a majority of legislative seats. In the United Kingdom,18 out of 23 general elections since 1922 have produced a single-party majority government. For example, the 2005 United Kingdom general election results in Great Britain are as follows, It can be seen that Labour took a majority of seats, 57%, the largest two parties took 69% of votes and 88% of seats. Meanwhile, the smaller Liberal Democrat party took more than a fifth of votes, another example would be the UK General Election held on 7 May 2015, Here, the Conservatives took 51% of the seats with only 37% of the vote. It should be noted that the Liberal Democrats also suffered under first-past-the-post, the benefits of FPTP are that its concept is very easy to understand, and ballots can be easily counted and processed. Alternative methods such as rank-based voting require far more work or processing power to tabulate results than a single choice, supporters of FPTP argue that it is the electoral method providing the best governance. It trades fairness in representation for more responsible government and its tendency to produce majority rule allows the government to pursue a consistent strategy for its term in office and to make decisions that may be both correct and unpopular
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Alberta general election, 2004
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The Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22,2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the election was called on October 25,2004. Premier Ralph Klein decided to go to the polls earlier than the deadline of March 2006. This election was held in conjunction with the Alberta Senate nominee election,2004, when the election was called, it was expected to be anticlimactic, with Klein cruising to his fourth straight majority, the tenth for his Progressive Conservative Party. Shortly after the drop of the writs, Kleins mother died, after the campaign resumed, Klein avoided making any policy announcements and attended few events. One commentator called it Kleinfeld, the campaign about nothing, the Liberal Party, which had hoped to hold on to the five seats it had and regain the two seats that it had lost to resignations, began to pick up momentum and became far more optimistic. In the end, the Conservatives were re-elected, despite losing 11 seats, the Liberals more than doubled their seats by electing 17 MLAs on election night while dominating Edmonton, and making strong inroads in Calgary. The Alberta New Democrats held on to their two seats and gained two more, all in Edmonton, the Conservatives swept rural Alberta except for one seat that went to the Alberta Alliance, which placed second in a number of rural ridings. The Alberta Greens gained in the vote, jumping from 0. 3% in the 2001 election to 2. 8%. Although placing second in the riding of Drayton Valley-Calmar ahead of the Liberals, it was unable to win any seats, Social Credit placed third in a number of ridings, and its leader tied for second in Rocky Mountain House. The Conservative, Liberal and NDP leaders all easily held onto their own seats, note, * The Alberta Alliance and Alberta Party did not contest the 2001 election. 1 The Separation Party results are compared to the Alberta First Party,2 A judicial recount changed the results in Edmonton Castle Downs, Liberal. Chris Kibermanis lost to Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk,1 Edmonton corresponds to only the city of Edmonton. The four suburban ridings around the city as listed below are grouped with Central Alberta in this table, names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers. Albertas electoral laws fix the number of seats at 83. As a result of the Alberta Electoral Boundary Re-distribution,2004, Edmonton lost one seat, and one special consideration division was eliminated. Dunvegan-Central Peace is the remaining special division - due to its isolation. Lesser Slave Lake is now considered to be a standard rural division as its boundaries were re-drawn so that its population is slightly above 75% of the provincial average, one urbanized division outside Calgary and Edmonton was added, and two rural seats were eliminated
25.
Ed Stelmach
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Edward Michael Ed Stelmach is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and he spent his entire pre-political adult life as a farmer, except for some time spent studying at the University of Alberta. His first foray into politics was a 1986 municipal election, when he was elected to Lamont County council, a year into his term, he was appointed reeve. He continued in this position until his entry into provincial politics, in the 1993 provincial election, Stelmach was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vegreville-Viking. When Klein resigned the leadership in 2006, Stelmach was among the first to present his candidature to replace him. After a third-place finish on the first ballot of the leadership race, Stelmachs premiership was heavily focused on management of the provinces oil reserves, especially those of the Athabasca Oil Sands. He rejected calls from environmentalists to slow the pace of development in the Fort McMurray area and his government also attracted controversy for awarding itself a 30% pay increase shortly after its re-election, and featured strained relations with Calgary, one of Kleins former strongholds. Despite this, Stelmach increased the Progressive Conservatives already substantial majority in the 2008 election, with the advent of the late-2000s recession, Stelmach had to cope with a deteriorating economic situation and the Alberta governments first budget deficit in 16 years. Stelmach was succeeded as Premier by Alison Redford on October 7,2011, Edward Michael Stelmach was born on a farm near Lamont, Alberta, the grandson of immigrants from Zavyche, Ukraine. His grandparents settled near Andrew, Alberta in 1898, after bypassing Saskatchewan because they did not care for the terrain and his parents, Nancy and Michael N. Stelmach, had five children, of whom Edward was the youngest, ten years younger than his closest sibling. He was raised a Ukrainian Catholic, and continues to church regularly, sing in the church choir. Through high school, he worked as a well-digger and a Fuller Brush salesman, after graduating high school—his grade 12 yearbook called him a future Prime Minister of Canada—he attended the University of Alberta, intending to become a lawyer. He continued there, working as an assistant manager at Woodwards, until 1973 and he continues to farm the land today. As a teenager, he met Marie Warshawski at the wedding of a mutual friend and they married in 1973, and have three sons and a daughter. Stelmach ran for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a Progressive Conservative in the 1993 provincial election, during his first term, Stelmach served as Deputy Whip and, later, Chief Government Whip for the P. C. caucus. As a backbencher, he sponsored the Lloydminster Hospital Act Repeal Act, Lloydminster sits on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the hospital, although built and operated by the Alberta government, sits on the Saskatchewan side. It passed the legislature with little debate, Stelmach said that he had only stepped in to help the riding after its MLA, Nicholas Taylor, had been appointed to the Senate. After the 1997 provincial election, Klein appointed Stelmach Minister of Agriculture, Food, while he held this office, his department encouraged the establishment of feedlots
26.
Alison Redford
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Alison Merrilla Redford, QC is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. She was the 14th Premier of Alberta, Canada, having served in capacity from October 7,2011. Redford was born in Kitimat, British Columbia and grew up all over Canada, in the 2008 provincial election, Redford was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the district of Calgary-Elbow. She served in the cabinet of Ed Stelmach as the Minister of Justice, Redford became premier upon winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, and on April 23,2012, she led her party to victory in the 2012 provincial election. Redford is the first female premier in the history and the eighth woman to serve as a premier in the history of Canada. Of the Alberta premiers with a mandate, her term in office was the shortest. On March 19,2014, Redford announced that she would resign as premier of Alberta effective March 23,2014 and she was succeeded by deputy premier Dave Hancock on an interim basis. She announced her resignation as an MLA on August 6,2014, Redford was born March 7,1965, in Kitimat, British Columbia, the daughter of Helen Kay and Merrill Redford. Her mother was a Scottish immigrant, originally from Glasgow, Redfords family moved to Nova Scotia and Borneo, and to Calgary by the time Redford was 12. She graduated from Bishop Carroll High School, Calgary, and from the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan in 1988 and her work in Africa focused on human rights litigation, developing education programs and policy reform with respect to gender issues. Political issues in the program within Alberta at that time were under question by the Elections Commissioner. She also served as an adviser to the Privy Council Office on Canadas future involvement in Afghanistan subsequent to the elections and her work has included assignments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Namibia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Philippines. Before her most current post, Redford managed a judicial training and legal reform project for the Ministry of Justice, in the 1980s Redford served as Senior Policy Advisor to former Prime Minister Joe Clark, who was the Secretary of State for External Affairs. She went on to work in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada from 1988 to 1990, in this capacity, Redford organized a series of national foreign policy consultations facilitating public input on the Government of Canadas White Papers on Foreign Affairs and Defence. In the Canadian Parliament, she was also the Principal Legislative Advisor to the Secretary of State for External Affairs, in 2004, Redford unsuccessfully challenged Member of Parliament Rob Anders for the federal Conservative nomination in Calgary West. On March 13,2008, after being elected MLA for the constituency of Calgary-Elbow, Redford was named Minister of Justice and Attorney General by Premier Ed Stelmach. In addition, she served as a member of the Agenda and Priorities Committee, the Treasury Board. She resigned from the cabinet in early 2011 to devote herself to her campaign to succeed Stelmach as leader of the governing Progressive Conservative Party, Redford was largely considered an outsider and had the support of only one MLA in her leadership campaign
27.
Alberta general election, 2012
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The 2012 Alberta general election, formally the 28th general election of Alberta, Canada, took place April 23,2012, to elect members of the 28th Legislative Assembly of Alberta. A Senate nominee election was called for the same day, after taking office, her government introduced a bill relating to the timing of elections, which was passed on December 6,2011. Unlike other fixed election date legislation in Canada, the 2011 Election Amendment Act fixes the election to a three-month period, however, like other legislation, this does not affect the powers of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislature before this period. The writs of elections were dropped March 26,2012, the victory made Redford the third woman elected in her own right as a provincial premier in Canada, and the first woman elected premier in a province outside Atlantic Canada. On September 4,2014, the Alberta PC Party became the provincial government in Canadian history. The 27th Alberta Legislature saw a significant decline in the polls for the governing Progressive Conservatives, on January 4,2010, the Wildrose caucus became the third party, displacing the New Democrats, when PC MLAs Rob Anderson and Heather Forsyth joined the Wildrose. Later in 2010, former PC cabinet minister Guy Boutilier joined the Wildrose, however, their support has waned in the past year, as have polling fortunes for the Liberal Party. Albertas NDP has doubled their results in recent polls compared to their percentage in the last election, however, the Liberals gained one in selecting Raj Sherman as their leader in September 2011, who had been ejected from the PC caucus in November 2010. On January 25,2011, Ed Stelmach abruptly announced that he would not seek re-election, Alison Redford was chosen as Stelmachs successor on October 1,2011, and her election has improved the fortunes of her party in opinion polls. Her new government presented six pieces of legislation, the most notable of which regarded fixed election dates, an investigation into health care, all six bills were passed in the fall 2011 sitting of the 27th Legislature. The law does not affect the ability of Albertas Lieutenant-Governor to dissolve the assembly, however, that is not likely to occur during majority governments. The legislature was dissolved and the writs were dropped on March 26,2012, a year after the previous general election the Alberta Greens became mired in an internal dispute that resulted in the collapse of the party, and its de-registration by Elections Alberta. Some of the former Green party executive, including deputy leader Edwin Erickson, eventually joined the Alberta Party. As indicated on the maps, the vote split largely on regional lines. Wildrose support was concentrated largely in Southern Alberta while the party won one seat north of the 53rd parallel. The Liberals were confined to the two largest cities, winning three seats in Calgary and two in Edmonton, the New Democrats won all four of their seats in Edmonton. The PCs polled about 44 percent of the vote. The Wildrose won 17 seats to become the Official Opposition for the first time and it was a net increase of thirteen seats for the party, although two of the four Wildrose incumbents were defeated by their PC challengers
28.
Jim Prentice
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Peter Eric James Jim Prentice PC QC was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th Premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was re-elected in the 2006 federal election and appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. Prentice was appointed Minister of Industry on August 14,2007, on November 4,2010, Prentice announced his resignation from cabinet and as MP for Calgary Centre-North. All three stood as candidates in by-elections scheduled for October 27,2014, and all three were elected with Prentice becoming the MLA for Calgary-Foothills. After introducing his first budget in 2015, Prentice declared a provincial election on May 5,2015. On October 13,2016, Prentice and three others were killed when the aircraft in which they were travelling crashed shortly after taking off from Kelowna, the flight was en route from Kelowna to Springbank Airport, just outside Calgary. Prentice was born to a large, blue-collar family in South Porcupine, near Timmins, the family then moved to Alberta in 1969. He was the son of Wilma Lyle Marea and Eric Prentice and his uncle Dean Prentice played in the NHL for more than 20 years. Prentice was educated at the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University and he paid for his tuition by working as a coal miner in the summer months for seven years. As a lawyer, he served as a Law Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission of Canada, in his personal life, Prentice served for seven years on the Board of Directors at the Calgary Winter Club, including stints as President and Chairman. He was a member and volunteer leader in the Grace Presbyterian Church. Prentice and his wife Karen have three daughters and two grandchildren and he was also a member of the Trilateral Commission, a non-partisan organization that aims to increase cooperation within the developed world. In this capacity, Prentice was one of 20 Canadian members, Prentice joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1976, and was active in Tory circles ever since. In the 1986 provincial election, Prentice ran for the Progressive Conservatives in Calgary Mountain View, during the early 1990s, Prentice served as the governing federal PC partys chief financial officer and treasurer. He ran in the 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election to support the United Alternative proposal to merge the PC party with the Canadian Alliance and he was seen by many as an alternative to the status quo candidate and front runner Peter MacKay. A basic platform of Prentices campaign was no one has ever defeated the Liberals with a divided conservative family. He also unexpectedly received the support of fellow leadership challenger Craig Chandler, Prentice ultimately emerged in second-place on the fourth ballot to the eventual winner MacKay
29.
Alberta general election, 2015
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This election elected members to the 29th Alberta Legislature. The provincial Election Act fixed the date to a three-month period between March 1 and May 31 in the fourth calendar year after the preceding election day - in this case. However, the Act does not affect the powers of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislature before this period, the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta had a majority in the outgoing Assembly. As a result of the election, the Alberta New Democratic Party were elected to a majority government under leader Rachel Notley, the NDP formed Government for the first time in its history, ousting the PCs, who were reduced to third place in seats. Prentice resigned as PC leader and MLA for Calgary-Foothills on election night, the Progressive Conservatives had won every provincial election since the 1971 election, making them the longest-serving provincial government in Canadian history. This was only the change of government in Alberta since Alberta became a province in 1905. It also marked the first time a political party had formed government in Alberta since the United Farmers of Alberta in 1935. The Alberta Liberal Party and Alberta Party each won a single seat, the Alberta Liberal Party lost four seats, only returning interim leader David Swann to the Legislative Assembly. Following the election, Notley and her cabinet were sworn in on May 24,2015, in the 2012 general election the PCs lost a portion of their caucus, but were able to continue as majority government, despite their share of the popular vote decreasing to under 50%. On September 4,2014, the PCs became the longest serving political dynasty in Canadian history, Prentice, who succeeded former premier and interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives Dave Hancock in September 2014, was not obligated to call an election until 2016. However, seeking a new mandate to pass his budget, he asked Lieutenant Governor Donald Ethell to dissolve the legislature on April 7, in accordance with Canadian constitutional practice, Ethell granted the request, beginning a month long campaign. * The total popular vote includes votes from voided Calgary-Foothills election, ** The candidate elected for Calgary-Foothills, Jim Prentice, disclaimed his victory. The election resulted in a majority government led by the New Democratic Party, on May 15, the recount determined NDP candidate Anam Kazim won the riding by six votes. The Alberta NDP had been leading in most polls since late April and they had been expected to do well in Edmonton, which historically had been more favourable to centre-left parties and candidates than Alberta in general. However, in a result that even the most optimistic projections for the NDP. The NDP took every seat in the city, all by large margins. The NDP also won 15 of the 25 seats in Calgary, the NDP also swept the provinces third and fourth-largest cities, Lethbridge and Red Deer. NDP support remained relatively lower in rural Alberta, where only won a handful of ridings in the north of the province
30.
Rachel Notley
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Rachel Anne Notley MLA is a Canadian politician and the 17th and current Premier of Alberta, since 2015. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Strathcona, the daughter of former Alberta NDP leader Grant Notley, Notleys career before politics focused on labour law, with a specialty in workers compensation advocacy and workplace health and safety issues. Notley was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2008 provincial election and she is the first Alberta Premier to be born in Edmonton. Notley is the sister of Paul Notley and Stephen Notley, author and illustrator of Bob the Angry Flower and her mother, a devout Anglican, was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and moved to Alberta as an adult. Notley was reportedly unimpressed by Tommy Douglas when he visited their home and is said to have spoken disparagingly of Ed Broadbent as an adolescent. Her infuriated father waited until the meeting was over to give her a lone twenty dollar bill to tide her over until the end of the month. Notley credits her mother Sandy with getting her involved in activism and she remained unsure about whether or not to enter public office until she was in her 30s. Alongside her own background, Notley has also cited her high school social studies teacher Jim Clevette as having made a lasting impact when it comes to her interest in politics. She has also claimed Jack Layton as being a personal hero, Notley was a twenty year old undergraduate at the University of Alberta when her father died on October 19,1984. Fellow NDP MLA and future Alberta NDP leader Ray Martin later called to confirm to Notley that her father was indeed dead and it was then left up to Notley to inform her mother of the news. A day after her election as Alberta NDP leader, she would lead the 30th anniversary memorial of her fathers death, Notley earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Alberta, and a law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School. While at Osgoode Hall she became active in the 1989 Federal NDP leadership convention where she endorsed second-place finisher and former B. C and she is married to Lou Arab, a Communications Representative for the Canadian Union of Public Employees and a campaign strategist for the party. She lives with him and their two children in the district of Old Strathcona located in south-central Edmonton. Notley is a cyclist, jogger, and skier, as well as a reformed smoker, after law school, Notley articled for Edmonton labour lawyer Bob Blakely, and went on to work for the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees representing members with Workers Compensation cases. In 1994, Notley moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she worked for the Health Sciences Association of BC as their occupational health, during her time in BC, she worked for one year as a ministerial assistant to Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh. In this role, she was part of the team that first expanded the application of BCs family relations laws to same sex couples, Notley acted as a representative of the provincial labour movement in the negotiation and drafting of new workplace health and safety standards. During her time in Vancouver, Notley was active with Moms on the Move and she is also a past board member of the Vancouver Community College. Notley returned to Edmonton in 2002, Notley did volunteer work with the Strathcona Community League in 2006, assisting with a drive to garner support for the installation of sidewalks in east Strathcona
31.
Reform Party of Canada
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The Reform Party of Canada was a right-wing populist federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest movement and eventually became a populist conservative party and it was initially motivated by the perceived need for democratic reforms and by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative federal government of Brian Mulroney. Led by its founder Preston Manning, Reform rapidly gained momentum in western Canada, in opposition, the party advocated for spending restraint and democratic reform. In the leadup to the 1997 election, the party attempted to make a national breakthrough, however, a Liberal victory and disappointment with the lack of Eastern seats led many members to question the future direction of a party. The party was succeeded by the Canadian Alliance in 2000. With the collapse of the 1984-1993 PC electoral coalition composed of westerners, rural Ontarians and Quebec nationalists and it first entered Parliament in 1989 when Deborah Grey won a by-election in an Edmonton-area riding. The party achieved major breakthrough in the 1993 federal election, when it went from holding 1 seat to 52 and its platform and policies emphasized the rights and responsibilities of the individual, Senate and other democratic reforms, and smaller more fiscally responsible government. However, the party came under persistent partisan attack of being extremist and intolerant due to a number of statements by Reform MPs which were considered to be racist, homophobic, and sexist. In the 1997 election, the Reform Party made only minor gains, the party still failed to present a true challenge to the Liberal government, since its agenda was seen as too extreme for the liking of central and eastern Canada. Reform actually won a seat in Ontario in 1993, but lost it in 1997, demand for unity by the right encouraged Manning to promote a new movement, the United Alternative, to create a small-c conservative alternative to the Liberals. Manning blamed conservative vote splitting for keeping the Liberals in power, Mannings efforts created a strong debate in the Reform party, and he would even write a letter to the effect that he didnt want to lead Reform anymore, but would only lead the new party. Manning won a review with over 75% support quelling his opposition. The new partys platform was a mixture of the PC and Reform platforms, however, it was largely seen as merely a renamed and enlarged Reform Party. Former Reform members dominated the new party, and the Reform caucus in the Commons essentially became the Alliance caucus, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney called the party Reform in pantyhose, and some opponents referred to the party as the Reform Alliance to enforce this perception. However, the CCRAP nickname was used by its opponents. Grey, the deputy leader of Reform, was chosen as the new interim leader. The federal Progressive Conservatives under Joe Clark refused to participate in these talks, subsequently, at the new partys first leadership convention, Manning was defeated in favour of the younger, more charismatic Stockwell Day, longtime treasurer of Alberta. One Progressive Conservative senator, Gerry St. Germain, joined the new party in October 2000, in the fall of 2000, the Liberals called a snap election that caught the Alliance off-guard
32.
Canadian Alliance
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The Canadian Alliance, formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance, was a conservative and right-wing populist federal political party in Canada that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons, the party supported policies that were both fiscally and socially conservative, seeking reduced government spending on social programs and reductions in taxation. The federal Progressive Conservative Party rebuffed the initiative to unite the right in the fall of 1998 when it elected Joe Clark as its leader. In December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties voted to disband, the Canadian Alliances origins were in the Reform Party of Canada, which was founded in 1987 as a populist party supporting Western Canadian interests. However, soon after its formation it moved sharply to the right, initially, the Reform Party was motivated by the perceived need for democratic reforms and by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney. Led by its founder Preston Manning, the Reform Party rapidly gained momentum in western Canada, Manning, son of longtime Alberta Premier Ernest Manning, gained support partly from the same political constituency as his fathers old party, the Alberta Social Credit Party. With the collapse of a fragile Tory coalition of westerners, Ontarians and Quebec nationalists and it first entered Parliament in 1989 when Deborah Grey won a by-election in an Edmonton-area riding. The party achieved success in the 1993 federal election, when it succeeded in replacing the Progressive Conservative Party as the leading right-wing party in Canada. Its platform and policies emphasized, inter alia, the rights and responsibilities of the individual, Senate and other democratic reforms, the party did manage to become Canadas official opposition. The party still failed to present a challenge to the Liberal government, since its agenda was seen as too extreme for of central. Reform actually won a seat in Ontario in 1993, but lost it in 1997, demand for unity by the right, encouraged Manning to promote a new movement, the United Alternative, to create a small-c conservative alternative to the Liberals. Manning blamed conservative vote splitting for keeping the Liberals in power, mannings efforts created a strong debate in the Reform party, and he would even write a letter to the effect that he didnt want to lead Reform anymore, but would only lead the new party. The opposition died down after Manning won a review with 74. 6% support at the January 2000 UA convention. The new partys platform was a mixture of the PC and Reform platforms, however, it was largely seen as merely a renamed and enlarged Reform Party. Former Reform members dominated the new party, and the Reform caucus in the Commons essentially became the Alliance caucus, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney called the party Reform in pantyhose, and some opponents referred to the party as the Reform Alliance to enforce this perception. One day later, the party changed its name to the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance. However, the CCRAP nickname was used by its opponents. Deborah Grey, the deputy leader of Reform, was chosen as the new interim leader
33.
Parliament of Canada
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The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa, Ontario. The body consists of the Canadian monarch, represented by a viceroy, the general, an upper house, the Senate, and a lower house. Each element has its own officers and organization, by constitutional convention, the House of Commons is the dominant branch of parliament, the Senate and Crown rarely opposing its will. The Senate reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint and the monarch or viceroy provides the necessary Royal Assent to make bills into law. The governor general also summons parliament, while either the viceroy or monarch can prorogue or dissolve parliament, either will read the Throne Speech. The most recent parliament, summoned by Governor General David Johnston in 2015, is the 42nd since Confederation in 1867, the Parliament of Canada is composed of three parts, the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons. Each has a role, but work in conjunction within the legislative process. Only those who sit in the House of Commons are called members of parliament, though legislatively less powerful, senators take higher positions in the national order of precedence. No individual may serve in more than one chamber of parliament at the same time, the sovereigns place in the legislature, formally called the Queen-in-Parliament, is defined by the Constitution Act,1867, and various conventions. All federal bills begin with the phrase Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada. And, as such, the Crown is immune from acts of parliament unless expressed otherwise in the act itself. As both the monarch and his or her representatives are traditionally barred from the House of Commons, any parliamentary ceremonies in which they are involved take place in the Senate chamber. The upper and lower houses do, however, each contain a mace, which indicate the authority of the Queen-in-Parliament, following the burning of the Centre Block on 3 February 1916, the City of London, England, donated a replacement, which is still used today. The temporary mace, made of wood, and used until the new one arrived from the United Kingdom in 1917, is carried into the Senate each 3 February. The Senates 1. 6-metre-long mace comprises brass and gold, senators served for life until 1965, when a constitutional amendment imposed a mandatory retirement age of 75. Senators may, however, resign their seats prior to that mark, the Senate is divided equally amongst four geographic regions,24 for Ontario,24 for Quebec,24 for the Maritimes, and 24 for the Western provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador, which became a Canadian province in 1949, is represented by six senators, further, Canadas three territories—the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut—are allocated one senator each. The elected component of the Canadian parliament is the House of Commons, with each member chosen by a plurality of voters in each of the countrys federal electoral districts
34.
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
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The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a federal political party in Canada with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues. The party changed its name to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in December 1942, in 2003, the party membership voted to dissolve the party and merge with the Canadian Alliance to form the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada. One member of the Senate of Canada, Elaine McCoy, sat as an Independent Progressive Conservative until 2016, the conservative parties in most Canadian provinces still use the Progressive Conservative name. Some PC Party members formed the Progressive Canadian Party, which has attracted only marginal support, Canadas first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, belonged to the Liberal-Conservative Party. But in advance of confederation in 1867, the Conservative Party took in a number of defectors from the Liberals who supported the establishment of a Canadian Confederation. Thereafter, the Conservative Party became the Liberal-Conservative Party until the turn of the twentieth century, the federal Tories governed Canada for over forty of the countrys first 70 years of existence. However, the party spent the majority of its history in opposition as the nations number-two federal party, behind the Liberal Party of Canada. From 1896 to 1993 the Tories formed a government only five times—from 1911 to 1921, from 1930 to 1935, from 1957 to 1963, from 1979 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1993. It stands as the only Canadian party to have won more than 200 seats in a feat it accomplished twice. The last meeting of the Progressive Conservative federal caucus was held in early 2004, the Conservative Party of Canada took power in 2006 and was governed under the leadership of Stephen Harper until 2015, being defeated by the Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau. Between the partys founding in 1867, and its adoption of the Progressive Conservative name in 1942 and it was most commonly known as the Conservative Party. Several loosely associated provincial Progressive Conservative parties continue to exist in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. As well, a rump of Senators opposed the merger. The Yukon association of the party renamed itself as the Yukon Party in 1990, the British Columbia Progressive Conservative Party changed its name to the British Columbia Conservative Party in 1991. Many Canadians simply continued to refer to the party as the Conservatives, a major weakness of the party since 1885 was its inability to win support in Quebec, estranged significantly by that years execution of Louis Riel. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 exacerbated the issue, the party never fully recovered from the fragmentation of Mulroneys broad coalition in the late 1980s resulting from Anglophone Canadas failure to ratify the Meech Lake Accord. Immediately prior to its merger with the Canadian Alliance, it held only 15 of 301 seats in the Canadian House of Commons, the party did not hold more than 20 seats in Parliament between 1993 and 2003. The Progressive Conservative Party was generally on the centre-right on the political spectrum, from 1867 on, the party was identified with Protestant and, in Quebec, Roman Catholic social values, British imperialism, Canadian nationalism, and constitutional centralism
35.
Conservative Party of Canada
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The Conservative Party of Canada, colloquially known as the Tories, is a political party in Canada. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum, the partys leader from 2004 to 2015 was Stephen Harper, who served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015. The Conservative Party is the successor to multiple right-wing parties which have existed in Canada for over a century, until 1942, one of the partys predecessors was known as the Conservative Party of Canada, and participated in numerous governments. Before 1942, the predecessors to the Conservatives had multiple names, but by 1942, in 1957, John Diefenbaker became the first Prime Minister from the Progressive Conservative Party, and remained in office until 1963. Another Progressive Conservative government was elected after the results of the 1979 federal election, Clark served from 1979 to 1980, when he was defeated by the Liberal Party after the 1980 federal election. In 1984, the Progressive Conservatives won with Brian Mulroney becoming Prime Minister, Mulroney was Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993, and his government was marked by free trade agreements and economic liberalization. A similar result occurred in 1997, and in 2000, when the Reform Party became the Canadian Alliance, in 2003, the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives merged, forming the Conservative Party of Canada. The party is currently being led by interim leader Rona Ambrose as it is undergoing a leadership election, which will take place in 2017. John Lynch-Staunton served as leader of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada from 8 December 2003 until 20 March 2004. On 19 January 2016, the party announced that a permanent leader will be elected on 27 May 2017, the National Council is the partys national governing body that is elected by the Conservative Party membership at its bi-annual meetings. A National Councillor is elected for a term and cannot serve for more than three consecutive terms. The party president is elected by National Council following their election, since 2016, the President of the Conservative Party has been Scott Lamb, a councillor representing British Columbia. The party President is the conduit between the Party Leader and the National Council, don Plett interim until 2005 John Walsh Scott Lamb The Executive Director answers to the party President, and is responsible for the day-to-day management and operations of the party. From February 2009 to October 2013, the Executive Director was Dan Hilton, from October to December 2013, the Acting Executive Director was Dave Forestell. Dimitri Soudas was named the new Executive Director in December 2013, on 30 March 2014, Soudas was told to resign or be fired from the position after allegedly interfering with the nomination contest taking place in his fiancees riding. On 30 March 2014, Simon Thompson was named as interim Executive Director, Thompson was previously the partys Chief Information Officer. In July 2014, Dustin Van Vugt was brought in as the Deputy Executive Director – a position created specifically for him, in October 2014, Van Vugts position was unanimously ratified by the partys National Council, and Thompson became the Chief Operations Officer. The Director of Political Operations reports to the Executive Director, and is one of the most important positions within the party
36.
Prime Minister of Canada
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Canadian prime ministers are styled as The Right Honourable, a privilege maintained for life. The office and its functions are instead governed by constitutional conventions, the prime minister, along with the other ministers in cabinet, is appointed by the governor general on behalf of the monarch. There are no age or citizenship restrictions on the position of prime minister itself, while there is no legal requirement for the prime minister to be a member of parliament, for practical and political reasons the prime minister is expected to win a seat very promptly. However, in rare circumstances individuals who are not sitting members of the House of Commons have been appointed to the position of prime minister, two former prime ministers—Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott and Sir Mackenzie Bowell—served in the 1890s while members of the Senate. Both, in their roles as Government Leader in the Senate, succeeded prime ministers who had died in office—John A. Macdonald in 1891 and that convention has since evolved toward the appointment of an interim leader from the commons in such a scenario. Prime ministers who are not Members of Parliament upon their appointment have since been expected to seek election to the commons as soon as possible. For example, William Lyon Mackenzie King, after losing his seat in the 1925 federal election, Turner was the last serving prime minister to not hold a commons seat. The Canadian prime minister serves at Her Majestys pleasure, meaning the post does not have a fixed term, once appointed and sworn in by the governor general, the prime minister remains in office until he or she resigns, is dismissed, or dies. Following parliamentary dissolution, the prime minister must run in the general election if he or she wishes to maintain a seat in the House of Commons. Should the prime ministers party subsequently win a majority of seats in the House of Commons, if, however, an opposition party wins a majority of seats, the prime minister may resign or be dismissed by the governor general. This option was last entertained in 1925, however, the function of the prime minister has evolved with increasing power. Caucuses may choose to follow rules, though the decision would be made by recorded vote. Either the sovereign or his or her viceroy may therefore oppose the prime ministers will in extreme, for transportation, the prime minister is granted an armoured car and shared use of two official aircraft—a CC-150 Polaris for international flights and a Challenger 601 for domestic trips. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also furnish constant personal security for the prime minister, all of the aforementioned is supplied by the Queen-in-Council through budgets approved by parliament, as is the prime ministers annual salary of CAD$170,400. Should a serving or former prime minister die, he or she is accorded a state funeral, John Thompson also died outside Canada, at Windsor Castle, where Queen Victoria permitted his lying-in-state before his body was returned to Canada for a state funeral in Halifax. In earlier years, it was traditional for the monarch to bestow a knighthood on newly appointed Canadian prime ministers. Accordingly, several carried the prefix Sir before their name, of the first eight premiers of Canada, the Canadian Heraldic Authority has granted former prime ministers an augmentation of honour on the personal coat of arms of those who pursued them. To date, former prime ministers Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, the written form of address for the prime minister should use his or her full parliamentary title, The Right Honourable, Prime Minister of Canada
37.
Stephen Harper
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Stephen Joseph Harper PC is a Canadian entrepreneur and retired politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, from February 6,2006 to November 4,2015. He was the first prime minister to come from the modern Conservative Party of Canada, which was formed by a merger of the Progressive Conservative Party, Harper was member of parliament for the riding of Calgary Heritage in Alberta from 2002 to 2016. Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, he was the MP for Calgary West and he was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, but did not seek re-election in the 1997 federal election. Harper instead joined and later led the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative lobbyist group, in 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance, the successor to the Reform Party and returned to parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003, he reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay for the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada and he was elected as the partys first leader, in March 2004. Harper stepped down as MP on August 26,2016, the 2006 federal election resulted in a minority government led by the Conservative Party with Harper becoming the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada. By proportion of seats, this was Canadas smallest minority government since Confederation, despite this, it was the longest-serving minority government overall. The 40th Canadian Parliament was dissolved in March,2011, after a vote that deemed the Cabinet to be in contempt of parliament. Harper resigned as party leader on October 19,2015, Harper moved back to Calgary, Alberta, and commuted to Ottawa as an opposition backbench member of parliament. Harper was born and raised in Leaside, Toronto, the first of three sons of Margaret and Joseph Harris Harper, an accountant at Imperial Oil. Harper attended Northlea Public School and, later, John G. Althouse Middle School and Richview Collegiate Institute and he graduated in 1978, and was a member of Richview Collegiates team on Reach for the Top, a television quiz show for Canadian high school students. Harper enrolled at the University of Toronto but dropped out two months. He then moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he work in the mail room at Imperial Oil. Later, he advanced to work on the computer systems. He took up post-secondary studies again at the University of Calgary and he later returned there to earn a masters degree in economics, completed in 1991. Harper has kept strong links to the University of Calgary, Harper was the first prime minister since Joe Clark without a law degree. Harper became involved in politics as a member of his high schools Young Liberals Club and he later changed his political allegiance because he disagreed with the National Energy Program of Pierre Trudeaus Liberal government. He left the PC Party that same year and he was then recommended by the University of Calgarys economist Bob Mansell to Preston Manning, the founder and leader of the Reform Party of Canada
38.
Rona Ambrose
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Ronalee Chapchuk Rona Ambrose PC MP is a Canadian politician who is interim leader of both the Conservative Party and the Official Opposition. She has been the Conservative Party member of the House of Commons for Sturgeon River—Parkland since 2015, in previous parliaments, Ambrose was Canadas Minister of Health and vice-chair of the Treasury Board cabinet committee. She is a communication consultant and public policy consultant for the Alberta government. She was the Conservatives Intergovernmental Affairs critic when the party was in opposition during her first term, Ambrose is the third female leader of Canadas conservative party. The first was former Prime Minister Kim Campbell who led Canadas now defunct Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and she is also the third woman to be Opposition Leader, after Deborah Grey and Nycole Turmel. All three of them served in an interim capacity, Ambrose was born Ronalee Chapchuk in Valleyview, Alberta, as the daughter of Colleen and James Chapchuk. She grew up in both Brazil and Parkland County of Alberta, in addition to English, she also speaks Portuguese and Spanish but is less fluent in French. Ambrose has a Bachelor of Arts in womens and gender studies from the University of Victoria, Ambrose was first elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2004 federal election for the newly created riding of Edmonton-Spruce Grove in west Edmonton. Ambrose calls herself a libertarian and is a fan of Ayn Rand novels such as Atlas Shrugged and she was a member of the Trilateral Commission, as reported in Vancouvers Georgia Straight, August 24,2006. Ambrose was temporarily the Conservative critic for International Trade, after the defection of Belinda Stronach to the Liberal Party, in 2006 elections, Ambrose successfully defended her seat in Edmonton–Spruce Grove with 66. 8% of the vote in the riding. She was then appointed Environment Minister in Prime Minister Stephen Harpers minority government, ambroses appointment to cabinet made her the youngest women appointed to cabinet at the time. On April 7,2006, Ambrose announced that Canada had no chance of meeting its targets under the Kyoto Protocol and my departmental officials and the department officials from natural resources have indicated that it is impossible, impossible for Canada to reach its Kyoto target. I have been engaging with our international counterparts over the past month, the APP had voluntary emissions reduction targets and was focused on developing technological solutions to solving climate change. The motion was blocked with the help of the Liberals after the Conservatives said that the motion would be a confidence motion, in August 2006 she stated, I welcome the commitment from British Columbia to preserve and increase the population of Northern Spotted Owls. On October 19,2006, Ambrose introduced a Clean Air Act that aimed to reduce the level of greenhouse emissions starting in 2020, cutting them to about half of the 2003 levels by 2050. She also introduced regulations to industries and vehicles as well as a possible cooperation between the federal government and the provinces to create a system that would report air emissions. In an interview with the media, Ambrose denied that the Conservative government had withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol despite its previous opposition to it. However, industries will have until 2010 before they are expected to reduce emissions, oil companies will have to reduce emissions on a per-barrel basis, reduction proportional to production basis
39.
Single transferable vote
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The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting in multi-seat organizations or constituencies. The exact method of reapportioning votes can vary, Hare–Clark is the name given to STV in lower house elections in two Australian states and territories, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. The name is derived from Thomas Hare, who developed the system, and the Tasmanian Attorney General, Andrew Inglis Clark, Hare–Clark has been changed to use rotating ballot papers. Although the New South Wales Legislative Council and the Senate have reformed their electoral systems to abolish group tickets, STV is the system of choice of groups such as the Proportional Representation Society of Australia, the Electoral Reform Society in the United Kingdom and FairVote in the USA. STV has had its widest adoption in the English-speaking world, as of 2010, in government elections, STV is used for, In British Columbia, Canada, STV was recommended for provincial elections by the BC Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform. In a 2005 provincial referendum, it received 57. 69% support and it was not adopted, however, because it fell short of the 60% threshold requirement the Liberal government had set for the referendum to be binding. For a more complete list, see History and use of the single transferable vote, when STV is used for single-winner elections, it is equivalent to the instant-runoff voting method. STV used for elections is sometimes called proportional representation through the single transferable vote. STV usually refers to the version, as it does in this article. In Australia STV is known as the Hare–Clark Proportional method, while in the United States it is called choice voting. In STV, each voter ranks the list of candidates in order of preference, in the most common ballot design, they place a 1 beside their most preferred candidate, a 2 beside their second most preferred, and so on. The completed ballot paper contains an ordinal list of candidates. The Droop quota is an extension of requiring a 50% +1 majority in single-winner elections, for example, at most 3 people can have 25% +1 in 3-winner elections,9 can have 10% +1 in 9-winner elections, and so on. If fractional votes can be submitted, then the Droop quota may be modified so that the fraction is not rounded down, thus the quota is a positive but not necessarily an integer value. An STV election starts with every voters first choice, according to the following steps, if any such elected candidate has more votes than the quota, the excess votes are transferred to other candidates. Votes that would have gone to the go to the next preference. This can be done in several ways, if no-one new meets the quota, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those votes are transferred to each voters next preferred candidate. This process repeats until either a winner is found for every seat or there are as many seats as remaining candidates, there are variations, such as how to transfer surplus votes from winning candidates and whether to transfer votes to already-elected candidates
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Crossing the floor
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In politics, crossing the floor is when a politician changes their allegiance or votes against their party in a Westminster system parliament. Crossing the floor may be voting against the party lines. While these practices are legally permissible, crossing the floor can lead to controversy, as well, voting against party lines may lead to consequences such as losing a position or being ejected from the party caucus. The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government, an MP who switched parties would literally need to cross the floor. A notable example of the latter is Winston Churchill, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals in 1904, most political parties let their members have a free vote on some matters of personal conscience. Among other parties, crossing the floor is rare although Senator Barnaby Joyce of the National Party of Australia crossed the floor 19 times under the Howard coalition government. Nonetheless, the record for crossing the floor in the Australian Parliament goes to Tasmanian Senator Sir Reg Wright, in both Canada and the United Kingdom, the term carries only this meaning and is not used for a simple vote against the party line on a bill
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Alberta Social Credit Party
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The Canadian social credit movement was largely an out-growth of the Alberta Social Credit Party. The Social Credit Party of Canada was strongest in Alberta, before developing a base in Quebec when Réal Caouette agreed to merge his Ralliement créditiste movement into the federal party. The Alberta Social Credit party won a majority government in 1935, in the first election it contested, during its first years, when led by William Aberhart, it was a radical monetary reform party, at least in theory if not in effect. It stayed in power until 1971, one of the longest unbroken runs in government at the level in Canada. However, it has no seats since 1982, and finished a distant seventh in the 2012 and 2015 general elections. William Aberhart, a Baptist lay-preacher and evangelist in Calgary, was attracted to social credit theory while Alberta was in the depths of the Great Depression. He soon began promoting it through his program on CFCN in Calgary. Many study groups devoted to the theory sprang up across the province, from 1932 to 1935, Aberhart tried to get the governing United Farmers of Alberta to adopt social credit. There was widespread discontent with the overly cautious behaviour of the UFA government, the UFA government was also reeling from a scandal that had forced Reids predecessor, John Brownlee, to resign a year earlier. This, in particular, caused some socially conservative UFA members to transfer their allegiance to the Christian-based Social Credit movement. In the August 22,1935 election, much to its own surprise, Social Credit won a victory, taking 54% of the vote. The only elected opposition was five Liberals and two Conservatives, the UFA lost all of its seats in the worst defeat for a sitting provincial government in Canada. Alberta thus elected the first Social Credit government in the world, not even the Socreds had expected to win the election. Indeed, they hadnt even named a leader during the campaign, the Socreds now found themselves having to choose a formal leader who would become the provinces new premier. Aberhart was the choice, having been the partys driving force from the beginning. He didnt want the office, but was persuaded to take power and he was elected as leader and premier-designate at the partys first caucus meeting, and was sworn in on September 3. He became a Member of the Legislative Assembly a year later in a by-election, the first year and a half in power was a period of adjustment for the newly elected Socred MLAs and their premier. Negotiations between Aberhart and Douglas, who had hired by the UFA as a financial advisor, were colourful
