National Vote For Prime Minister

How One Becomes Prime Minister

A few years ago, one of our Prime Ministers was under some pressure from the media while being interviewed on a topic that he was clearly uncomfortable dealing with. At one point, in attempting to dismiss a reporter's persistent badgering, this Prime Minister made the statement "I have been elected Prime Minister by all Canadians". No statement could be further from the truth. Not one member of the media even bothered to pick up on this misstatement.

All Canadians do not have the option of casting a vote for our country's leader. For those who are not entirely clear on just how Canadians arrive at who our PM will be, here's a simplified list of the process that makes it happen:

Each local riding elects a candidate to run for the position of Member of Parliament in the next election. Residents of the riding must qualify to be able to attend and vote at the meeting. You must be a member, in good standing, of the party. That usually means you've paid a small membership fee and are now eligible to receive party correspondence, which consists mostly of never ending requests for financial donations.
Prior to any election, each party schedules a "leadership convention". Party members in good standing are again invited to attend a meeting of their local riding association. At this meeting, the attendees are asked to decide who will be allowed to go to the national leadership convention. Those who have the time to attend are often selected and generally go at their own expense. Those selected to go have, by and large, made it known for whom their "leadership vote" will be cast.
At the national leadership convention, the representatives that have come from all ridings across Canada vote for who should be the Prime Minister. The eligible candidates are generally either one who is an MP already, or one who has been nominated to run, in a riding, for MP. One does not have to be an elected MP to be the party's leader.
Once the election has been called, all candidates in their local ridings swing into action. They need to be elected in their riding in order to become an MP in Canada's House of Parliament. Winning in a riding does not require that the candidate have a majority of the votes cast. The only requirement is that the candidate receive more votes than any other candidate. There is no runoff between the first and second place candidates. In a riding where 3 or 4 parties have a candidate on the ballot it is entirely possible that the winner has received less than half of the votes cast.
The party, whose candidates have won election in the most ridings, gets to be the "government of the day" and their leader automatically becomes Prime Minister.

Therefore, it is important for us to understand that one can become Prime Minister of Canada without even having to win a majority of votes in one's own riding. As long as he/she has managed to survive the internal politics of his/her party, and successfully fought to become the party leader, all that remains is the requirement to get the most votes in one's own riding. There are just over 300 ridings in Canada …only one needs to elect our Prime Minister.

In basic terms then, in a riding with numerous candidates running for MP, our Prime Minister can become our national leader by receiving only a few thousand votes in an entire national election. "I have been elected Prime Minister by all Canadians" is simply not true

A U.S. - Canada Comparison

Prime Minister - Extensive Authority For The Unelected

Few Canadians realize how very powerful the position of Prime Minister is in Canada. Experts in political systems aren't far off when they liken the PM's position to that of a "benevolent dictator". While dictators do not need to be re-elected, from time to time, the Canadian PM enjoys unprecedented powers that enable him/her to ensure that enough support goes out to important ridings so that his/her party can retain a majority in the next election. This must take place within 5 years and the PM is the one who picks the most advantageous date.

Here are some facts that will be of interest. In order to put them into perspective, we have decided to use the U.S. presidency, and its powers, as a comparison. Do remember, however, that any national "leader" has influence. (The points below do not take into account the fact that the U.S. president has significant clout simply because he has been elected by a majority of voters in a national referendum).

We welcome any corrections to the points listed below, or for that matter, any additions that may be singularly relevant. Please remember that this is general information and does not reflect the fact that national leaders, in any democracy, enjoy the kind of influence that comes with their position.

PRIME MINISTER	PRESIDENT
Needs only the most votes in one riding	Must receive 50% of a national vote
Can decide when to call election	Mandatory November 2 election every 4 years
Can remain PM for many elections	Can only be re-elected once
Can throw an elected MP out of the party	Cannot throw a Congressman or Senator out of his party
Appoints Senators and Supreme Court judges	Senators are elected and Judges to the Supreme Court must be approved by the Senate
Must pick Cabinet from elected MPs	Can appoint any talent to his Cabinet
Can order Cabinet and other MPs how to vote on any specific issue	Cannot tell Congressmen how to vote. Can only persuade
Controls agenda in Parliament	Has no control over Congressional agenda
Can block member's bills	Has no control over Congressional agenda
Can govern by "Order in Council"	Has no such option
Can declare war	Can declare war subject to Congressional approval within 7 days

In a recent poll by La Presse, it was determined that 55% of Canadians were in favour of directly electing their national leader. This poll was referred to in another publication and we have not checked its authenticity. We will attempt to do so as soon as possible.