Democracy in Canada

Democracy is means for the citizens to choose  their leaders and hold them accountable for their polices and their conduct in office. Canada is run by a democratic system and allows citizens to elect representative to carry out decisions for Canadians. Democracy consists of four basic essential features:

• Political systems for selecting and replacing government through fair and free elections
• Active participation of people in politics and civic life
• The protection of human rights of all citizens
• A rule of law where laws and procedures applying equally to all citizens

Though the question is, Is Canada really democratic? 

It is true that citizens can elect those who represent them in Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels ,but are they all free and fair? Well, till a several years ago (2000), homeless people were not allowed to vote. Other people who were not allowed to vote were woman, people of Asian decent, First nations and jail inmates.

A key role for Canadians are to participate in public life. They have an obligation to pay attention to the political leaders and also know about their democratic rights. Voting is an important civic role for Canadians, but as statistics show,  many Canadians are not involved. In the 2011 British Columbia elections only 33% of the people voted and only 61.4% in the Canadian Federal elections.

Canadians have certain basic rights that the state cannot take away from them. These right are guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some rights included that you have the right to your own beliefs, and to say and write your opinions. Also you have the right to assemble freely and to protest against government actions.

In Canada not not all rules apply to all citizens. For example the First Nations, they are governed by the Indian Act and do not have that same rights of a regular Canadian citizen. The laws are applied to them only and is a violation of  the equality rights provision of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Also there are rich people who break laws and use their money to buy their way out of the law. All citizens should be able to have the same rights. Canada is a democracy, but there are til many loop holes in the democracy.

Citation

. “2011 Canadian Federal Election Stats – Voter Turnout.”Transpedia. N.p., n.d.
aaaaaaaaWeb. 3 Mar 2012.<http://transpedia.ca/index.php?
aaaaaaaatitle=2011_Canadian_Federal_Election_Stats_–_Voter_Turnout>.

. “Canada Votes-Voter FAQ.” CBC.com. CBC, n.d. Web. 3 Mar 2012.
aaaaaaaa<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/votertoolkit/faq.html&gt;.

Munroe, Susan. “Canadian Election Firsts.” Canada Online. About.com, n.d.
aaaaaaaaWeb. 3 Mar 2012.
aaaaaaaa<http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/elections/a/electionfirsts.htm&gt;.