Canadian Politics

Canadian Politics

Where do you belong?• Political differences come from how much responsibility

we want to give our government i.e. what role should government have in our daily lives?

• The more conservative you are, the less role you see for government. The more liberal you are, the greater the role a government can be.

In reality..• Political Parties frequently have conflicting philosophies,

even with themselves.

Conservatives want lower taxes and more freedom for private businesses to operate without government interference. However on social issues they commonly take a stance against abortion or gay marriage.

Liberals believe a person has the right to choose on social issues but try to exercise more control over health, school and environmental issues. This commonly means more taxes.

Political Parties at the turn of the 20th Century

• Liberals – Wilfred Laurier• Conservatives – Robert Borden• Every Canadian Prime Minister has been either

Conservative or Liberal.• Canada has seen many new political parties emerge:

What others have their been?

Your voice• Why is it important to vote?• What happens to people who cannot vote?

YOUR NOTE STARTS HERE

Suffrage: the right to vote

• Until World War One, women couldn’t vote.

• Because of the efforts of women like Nellie McClung, women slowly earned the right to vote.

• Manitoba – 1916• Quebec was the last province to allow women the right to vote - 1940

Used as political tools

• Conscription in 1917 meant that Prime Minister Borden needed more voter support.

• He passed the Military Voters Act which allowed womon to vote in federal elections for the first time.

Denied:

• By 1920, all adult Canadians could vote in Federal Elections.

• People who were excluded were Visible minorities eg. Asians and Aboriginals.

• Although voting restrictions based on race were changed in 1948, Aboriginals were still subject to restrictions until 1960.

Elected to office

• Women could vote but were not allowed to hold senate positions until 1929.

• The first woman to be elected to the house of commons as an MP was Agnes Macphail

Answers to questions 1-5 on page 76

1) The Maritimes and the Prairies were in rough financial shape to start the 1920s. Prices for wheat and fish fell. They wound up borrowing a great deal of money to keep their industries going.

2) Canadians were dissatisfied with the federal government because they felt they only cared about the problems of Ontario, Quebec and B.C.

3) A minority government is when the governing political party holds fewer seats (votes) then the rest of the other parties combined. King’s party in 1921 WAS a minority government which meant that he had to have help from other political parties.

Answers to questions 1-5 on page 764) A non-confidence vote is when the governing party loses a vote in the house of commons and must call an election. It is important because it keeps the governing political party from doing whatever they want (dictatorship).

5) King used Governor General Byng to get national support for his party. He new that people would be more Loyal to the Prime Minister of Canada than to a British Lord.

1919

• Wilfred Laurier died and the Liberals needed a new leader.

• Mackenzie King took over.

• For the Conservatives, Arthur Meighen took over the leadership from Robert Borden.

The Progressive Party

• Made up of western Farmers that wanted free trade and lower tariffs.

• Thomas Crerar became the leader and he fought for rights of western farmers.

1921 – A Liberal minority

• Out of 235 seats,• -Liberals-116• -Progressives-64• -Conservatives – 50• -Independent - 3• -Labour – 2

• What is a minority government? Is this system effective?

1925 election

• Conservatives 116• Liberals 99• Progressives 24• Independent 4• Labour - 2

• Who should be Prime Minister?

• This didn’t actually happen because the Progressives joined with the Liberals

Byng – King Crisis