Chapter 6

Federal Elections

Who can vote, how elections work, the secret ballot, and how governments are formed and replaced.

Federal elections

Canadians elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. Voters can re-elect the same MP or choose a new one.
Federal elections are held on the third Monday in October, every four years after the last election. The Prime Minister can ask the Governor General to call an earlier election.
Canada is divided into electoral districts, also called ridings or constituencies. Each is a geographic area that elects one MP. (The study guide gives 308 districts; the number has grown since.)
Canadian citizens 18 or older may run as candidates.
The candidate with the most votes in a district becomes its MP.

To vote in a federal election or referendum you must be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years old on voting day, and on the voters' list.
Elections Canada, a neutral agency of Parliament, prepares the voters' lists from the National Register of Electors, a permanent list of citizens 18 or older who can vote.
After an election is called, Elections Canada mails a voter information card telling you when and where to vote.
Even if you didn't get a card, you can still get on the voters' list at any time, including on election day.

1. Check your voter information card. If you didn't get one, call your local elections office or Elections Canada.
2. If you can't vote on election day, vote at an advance poll or by special ballot.
3. On election day, go to the polling station on your card. Bring the card and proof of identity and address.
4. Mark an 'X' in the circle next to the candidate of your choice.
5. Mark your ballot privately behind the screen, fold it, and show it to the poll officials.
6. The poll official tears off the ballot number and gives the ballot back for you to put in the ballot box.
7. After the polls close, the ballots are counted and the results are made public on TV, radio, in newspapers and online.

Canadian law guarantees a secret ballot. No one may watch you vote or look at how you voted.
You may tell others how you voted if you wish, but no one (including family, your employer or union) can make you tell.

The Governor General normally invites the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons to form the government. That leader becomes Prime Minister.
A majority government holds at least half of the seats in the House of Commons. A minority government holds fewer than half.
The government stays in power only while it has the confidence of a majority of MPs. Major votes, such as on the budget, are confidence votes.
If the government loses a confidence vote, it falls, and the Prime Minister usually asks the Governor General to call an election.
The Prime Minister appoints ministers of the Crown, mostly from among MPs. Together they form the Cabinet, which runs federal departments, prepares the budget and proposes most new laws.
Parties not in power are opposition parties. The largest is the Official Opposition (the Loyal Opposition). Opposition parties peacefully oppose or try to improve the government's plans.
The study guide names three major parties in the House of Commons: the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Municipal (local) councils pass by-laws for their community. A council usually has a mayor (or reeve) and councillors (or aldermen).
Municipalities usually handle urban planning, streets and roads, garbage removal, snow removal, firefighting, ambulance and emergency services, recreation, public transit and some local health and social services. Most big cities have their own police.
Provincial, territorial and municipal elections also use secret ballots, but their rules differ from federal ones.
First Nations have band chiefs and councillors who handle responsibilities on reserves, such as housing and schools.

Checked against the official study guide: Discover Canada: Federal elections. Summarized in our own words.