Topic #1 - Democracy in Canada

Historical Institutionalism

  • Most thing are path dependent

    • Ex: why we have so many french people in Quebec

  • Critical juncture

    • Able to set a new direction where things have broken down

    • Ex: 1867 to the 1982 constitution 


House of commons in Ottawa meant to represent the Westminster parliament in the UK.


Gigantic land mass in which the population is very dense.

  • Regionalism 

    • Canadians from different regions have different traits, values…


Canada got its own flag in 1964 


What is democracy 


Democratic Deficit

  • Deficit - don't have enough of it 

  • Canada could be more democratic, doesn't mean it should 


  • Demos – the many; the poor; the vulgar

  • Cracy/Kratos – rule/authority


Democracy is a political system based on the formal equality of all citizens, in which there is a realistic possibility that voters can replace the government, and in which certain basic rights and freedoms are protected.


  • Is democracy a system of government? Or does democracy connote a type of society?

  • Was Canada “democratic” before the female population received the right to vote?

  • Do the persistence of poverty and the clear evidence of large inequalities in the economic condition and social status of different groups in Canada oblige us to qualify our description of Canadian society as “democratic”?


Self-government 

  • Democracy is a form of self-government 

  • Equality 




Procedural (minimal) Definition of Democracy 

How to get in


  • This view identifies certain rules, procedures, or methods as the basis of democracy. Elections are certainly a key facet of this, but rights and freedoms are also necessary.


Civil Liberties:

  • Freedom of speech and expression;

  • Freedom to access information/ freedom of the press

  • Freedom of assembly/to join interest groups and parties


Political Rights:

  • Elections are free and fair, and most adults can vote;

  • Elections are regularly scheduled or held periodically;

  • Elections have multiple parties, or some choice;

  • Elections are open to most adults to run for office.


Substantive definitions of democracy 

Who’s better or worse


  • More substantive conceptions of democracy (contrasted with the procedural definition) views a polity’s democratic status as dependent on the satisfaction of certain substantive ends, such as the extension of broad rights or the reduction of income inequality.


  • These definitions often seek to assess the depth and character of a democracy, rather than simply identifying the regime type.


Elements of a substantive definition may include the following:

  • Participation, social inclusion, and civil society involvement;

  • Equity/equality by gender, race, ethnicity, indigeneity, or other;

  • Accountability (including lack of corruption) and institutional performance;

    • Canada is bad at this 

  • Public knowledge and awareness;

  • Poverty, inequality, and other economic outcomes.


What would exclude an otherwise “democratic” country from being called a democracy?

  • Key political value that underlines democracy is equality YET Canada tolerates considerable amounts of a variety of inequalities. How can this be so?

  • Democracy, at its root, is about equality but beyond this agreement breaks down over how much equality, in what spheres of life, is necessary for a society to qualify as democratic.




Some key democratic concepts:


  • Self-government → government by popular consent (but we might ask who does this consider?)

  • Political obligation

  • Tyranny of the majority → democratic institutions can lead to oppressive institutions


Rights and Freedoms

The Rule of Law


Motivations for Confederation


  • Political deadlock between Canada East & Canada West

  • US Civil War looming large

  • Economic Challenges → Self-sufficiency/independence from Britain

  • Threat of US expansion → West? (AK, March 1867)

  • Loyalty to the Crown

  • National Railway


Key architects of confederation and their goal


John A. Macdonald: 

  • strong ties with Britain; strong central government with subordinate provincial legislatures; appointed Senate

  • First vice president

  • Most important person

  • No Macdonald = no confederation

  • Was a pragmatist and a deal maker, political genius

  • Good at finding allies and making it work

  • Did not believe in federalism, wanted a unitary state (like Britain) 

  • Patronage - how you use power to reward 

  • "The true principle of a confederation lies in giving to the general Government all the principles and powers of sovereignty, and in the provision that the subordinate or individual States should have no powers but those expressly bestowed upon them. We should thus have a powerful Central Government, a powerful Central Legislature, and a powerful decentralized system of minor Legislatures for local purposes."


George Brown: 

  • Rep. by pop.; promotion of Ontario's interests.

  • Representation by population

  • Was a bigot 




Cartier: 

  • Use of French in Parliament, Civil Code maintained in QC; buttress Catholic rights and counterbalance threat of the Orange Order in ON.

  • Deputee of John A Macdonald


Galt: 

  • Intercontinental railway; financial system built with ON/QC's interests in mind.


Thomas D'Arcy McGee: 

  • religious toleration; minority education rights; contrast with America

  • Close confident with John A Macdonald, both very similar, both drunks 


Some Qualifiers to Canadian Democracy: 

  • Canada is a CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY, a FEDERATION, a LIBERAL DEMOCRACY, and a REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY (i.e. not a direct democracy)

  • Liberal = individual/minority rights

  • Democracy = majority rule

    • These competing values will often express themselves in tension with each other.


Representative Democracy

  • The government is carried out by elected legislatures that represent the citizens.

  • Authority to rule and the practical business of ruling is delegated to those elected representatives, from the eligible voting population.

  • Citizens do directly “speak” through direct votes called plebiscites and referenda but these are not especially common, depending on the constitutional requirements of a given democracy. 


Rights and Freedoms in a Democracy

  • What constitutes a right, freedom, or a privilege is motivated by a political ideology or worldview.

  • Canada is a LIBERAL DEMOCRACY. Thus, it follows predominantly liberal ideas regarding such issues such as (but not necessarily limited to) a negative conceptualization of freedom (i.e. freedom from….) e.g. freedom of expression is freedom from censorship

  • Rights and freedoms are considered important for all democrats but only hardcore libertarians see any infringement on liberty as problematic. Genuine absolutist libertarians (full blown anarchists) are rare and there is broad consensus on the idea of reasonable limitations to freedom. 

  •  Section 1 of the Charter (1982): “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”


  • Politically, freedom is important in speech, thought, political rights, elections, press freedom and as a bulwark against nepotism, clientelism, cronyism, gerrymandering, etc….. This is a functionalist or consequentialist justification of freedom.

  • And/or, if you’re disposed toward liberal political philosophy, freedom is a positive end in and of itself. This approach sees freedom as a natural right that is inalienable/inviolable. Thus, any form of government that does not grant individual liberty is morally bankrupt and thereby intolerable.


The Rule of Law

  • The rule of law is the foundation of democracy à we live under a government of laws, not a government of men [sic]

  • Eugene Forsey: “It means that everyone is subject to the law; that no one, no matter how important or powerful, is above the law.”

  • Thus, no public official has the legitimate right to exercise any powers above or beyond what is assigned to their office by the law.

    • But does this work out to be the case in practice?


Systemic Racism/ Classism in Criminal Justice

  • Social and economic inequalities appear to severely limit equal treatment under the law.

Another example:

Indigenous adults are overrepresented in custody and the numbers are increasing

  • In 2017/2018, Indigenous adults accounted for 30% of admissions to provincial/territorial custody and 29% of admissions to federal custody, while representing approximately 4% of the Canadian adult population. In comparison, ten years ago, 21% of admissions to provincial/territorial custody and 20% of federal custodial were Indigenous (Dept. of Justice).

    • Money and power seems to allow a lot of people to get away with a lot à access, influence, and the ability to set the agenda is largely concentrated in the hands of the economic elite.


Rule of law, rather than rule of arbitrary individual authorities, is government by:

  • General rules rather than ad hoc, case by case decisions

  • Public rather than secret rules

  • Prospective rather than retrospective rules

  • Rules that can be understood by those to whom they apply rather than specialists alone

  • Consistent rather than contradictory rules

  • Rules that it is possible to comply with

  • Rules that are stable rather than in flux

  • Rules that are implemented in a way that is consistent with how they are written.


EEE (US)

  • Equal

  • Effective

  • Elective