Canadian Electoral System - First Past The Post

First Past The Post

Canada’s electoral system is referred to as a "first past the post" system. The candidate with the most votes wins; an absolute majority is not needed. They receive a seat in the House of Commons and represent their riding as its Member of Parliament (MP).

Historically, the Prime Minister could ask the Governor General to call an election at virtually any time, although one had to be called no later than five years after the return of the writs under section 4 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, in 2007, the Conservative-controlled Parliament passed an act requiring fixed election dates in Canada every four years.. This law is largely symbolic as it does not curtail the power of the Prime Minister to request the dissolution of Parliament at any time; this was demonstrated by the same Conservative government that passed the law when it called for elections one year prior to the legislated date without having lost a confidence motion.

If a government loses a "non-confidence" motion traditionally the Prime Minister will ask the Governor General to call an election. The Governor General when approached by the Prime Minister who has lost a vote of confidence will traditionally call an election. However it is not assured as some assume. The Governor General also has the right to call the leader of the party they think would be most likely to be able to form government and ask them if they can form the government. This happened in 1926 and is referred to as the King-Byng Affair.

Any number of candidates may run for election in an electoral district, but each candidate may only run in one district, either independently or under the banner of a political party. Each party may endorse only one candidate per riding. Candidates who run for election without party affiliation may be designated as "independent" or as having "no affiliation".

A political party is a group of people who together:

• Establish a constitution and by-laws
• Elect a leader and other officers
• Endorse candidates for election to the House of Commons.

To obtain the right to put the party name on the ballot, under the names of the candidates it endorses, a political party must register with the Chief Electoral Officer. At the 2008 election, there were 19 registered political parties operating at the federal level in Canada. See List of political parties in Canada.

After an election, the party with the most elected representatives usually becomes the governing party. The leader of this party becomes the Prime Minister of Canada and chooses people (usually MPs of his or her party) to head the various government departments. The party with the second largest number of MPs is called the "Official Opposition". All the elected candidates have a seat in the House of Commons, where they vote on draft legislation (called "bills") and thus have an influence on government policy.