Voting in Canada is important because it determines who will represent different ridings in Parliament and form the government. Canada is divided into 308 ridings of approximately 100,000 people each. During elections, citizens in each riding vote for a candidate, usually from a political party, to be their Member of Parliament. The party with the most seats forms the government and their leader becomes Prime Minister. Other parties become the opposition and challenge the government.

2. Why Does Voting Matter?

4. Ridings
 Canada is divided into
308 federal Ridings
(or Electoral Districts)
 Riding (Constituency)
– a clearly defined
geographic area for
political purposes
 A riding contains
approximately 100,000
people

5. Ridings
 Because ridings are based on population, some are
geographically large while others are small

6. Ridings

7. Kitchener-Conestoga
District
number Region Area Population**
Polling
divisions
Number of
electors
on lists
35038
Ontario
Region
996 km2 96,708 190 71,522

8. Kitchener-Waterloo
District
number Region Area Population**
Polling
divisions
Number of
electors
on lists
35039
Ontario
Region
91 km2 113,826 232 87,444

9. Elections
 During an election, voting
citizens elect one candidate
to represent each riding
 Candidates usually
represent a political party,
but may also run
independently
 The candidate with the most
votes (plurality) wins

10. Voter turnout in the 40th and 41st general
elections, 2008 and 2011

11. 40th Election

12. 41st General Election

13. 40th Election

14. 41st Election

15. Elections
 The winning candidate becomes the Member of
Parliament for their riding
 Each Member of Parliament (MP) has a seat in the
House of Commons (until the next election) and will
represent the interests of their constituency
 Most MPs also sit as a member of a particular political
party
 When voting in Parliament, each MP has one (1) vote

16. 2006 Election – National Results

17. 2008 Election – National Results

18. 2011 Election – National Results

20. The Government
 Members of Parliament sit together
with other members of the same
political party
 The political party with the most
Members of Parliament forms the
government
 The leader of this party becomes the
Prime Minister
 The Prime Minister chooses
Cabinet Ministers
 Cabinet Ministers - have the responsibility
of running major federal departments

21. The Opposition
 All other parties become
opposition parties, but the
party with the second most
seats becomes the Official
Opposition
 Some members of the Official
Opposition also form a Shadow
Cabinet headed by the Leader
of the Official Opposition
 This group is responsible for
criticizing and challenging the
Cabinet
After Jack Layton lost his
battle with Cancer, Thomas
Mulcair won the NDP
leadership bid.

22. The Government
 There can only be three types of government in
Canada
1. Majority Government
2. Minority Government
3. Coalition Government

23. Majority Government
 When a political party wins more than half (155)
of the ridings in the election
 The leader of this party becomes the prime
minister
 The party in power will have little difficulty
passing legislation

24. Majority Government

25. Minority Government
 When a political party wins more ridings than any
other party, but does not win more than half (155)
 The leader of this party becomes the prime minister
 The party in power depends on support from other
parties to pass legislation

26. Minority Government

27. Coalition Government
 Occurs when there is a minority government
 Two parties join together to form a minority or
majority government
 The Leader of one of these parties becomes the prime
minister

28. Coalition Government - 2008 (?)

29. Coalition Government

30. Canada’s Current Government
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_standings_in_the_Canadian_House_of_Commons