Hello UNICEF Readers! We are so excited you’ve clicked on this blog, as today we’ll be addressing everything you need to know for the upcoming Federal Canadian Snap Election! With constant campaigns, social media updates, and news articles, it can be hard to make sense of what’s happening and how to get involved. We’re here to help! Today, we break down Canada’s electoral system, the purpose of this election, a brief summary of the parties running, and some extra tips. We feel it’s important for youth voters to be informed, and we hope this blog helps you better understand how this upcoming election will work!
Why do we have another election? Didn’t we have one in 2019?
Canada did have a previous federal election in 2019, and the next fixed-date election was planned for September 2023 (Tunney, 2021). However, on August 15th, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request for the dissolution of Parliament was approved by Governor General Mary Simons, and a Canadian federal election was officially called. Importantly, the reason for Trudeau’s request was due to current poll results. As of August 15th, Trudeau’s Liberals have an important lead in public support — 36%, as compared to Erin O’Toole’s Conservative Party, which stands at 29%. The Liberal Party’s lead puts them in a range of seats that can allow them to form a majority government, which they were unable to secure in the 2019 election. This election also allows voters to voice their opinions regarding the federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and gives us the opportunity to decide on the party that will lead us out of it (D’Andrea, 2021).
Canada’s Electoral System: First Past the Post
Understanding the way Canada’s electoral system works is essential, and may even influence the way you choose to vote. So, here’s a quick review of how it runs. Canada is divided into 338 electoral ridings, each of which has one seat in Parliament (McPhail, 2018). Each seat is filled by a Member of Parliament (MP) who is elected by eligible voters in their riding. Importantly, a MP does not need to win 50% of the vote in their riding, but rather, only the plurality, or more than any other candidate. Once elected, each MP has equal say in legislation. The First Past the Post (FPTP) system allows for regional interests to be represented by the parliament, as voters in metropolitan areas may have vastly different priorities than those in rural regions. However, this system has significant shortcomings, as well. For one, ridings do not have an identical number of constituents. Thus, in a riding with a relatively small population, each voter has a much larger influence on the election result as compared to a densely populated riding. Another issue is that a political party requires a high concentration of voters in one riding to vote for their candidate in order to get a seat. For smaller parties, such as the Green Party, this can be detrimental. For example, in 2011, while the Green Party had 3.8% of the country’s popular vote, they were able to secure only one seat (out of 338) in Parliament. Smaller parties have an automatic disadvantage, which eventually leads to individuals not wanting to “waste” their vote. Thus, instead of voting for the party that they align with the best, they will vote for the party that they can tolerate, but has the higher chance of winning against the party that they dislike the most.
Voting Logistics — Registration & Ridings
For many of us first-time voters, the voting process may seem obscure at first glance. However, the good news is that the details about voting federally is really a one-stop-shop. The Elections Canada website will provide you details regarding your riding, your voting location, the electoral candidates in your constituency, your registration status, and other voting day logistics — and all you’ll need is your postal code!
Party Leaders & Platforms
Each major party’s platforms (Liberal, Conservative, New Democrat, Bloc Québécois, Green, and People’s Party) are available on a plethora of news sources, including CBC, CTV News, and Maclean’s. This entails a detailed summary of all federal responsibilities and the parties’ priorities — including issues that most youth voters are especially concerned with, such as reconciliation, climate change, green energy, racial inequality, and more. We highly encourage you to give the party platforms a read; focus on the issues that matter most to you and be aware of which parties are advocating for what you believe in.
What You Should Look Out For
- News stories! This is a crucial time to stay updated and aware of what’s going on in Canada, especially regarding election updates. There are a plethora of credible news sources available online, including but not limited to CBC, CTV News, Maclean’s, and The Globe and Mail. It’s important to recognize that every news source carries bias. For example, CBC and Maclean’s tend to have a left-center bias, whereas The Globe and Mail has a slight right-center bias (Media Bias/Fact Check). The best way to remain consistent in your news is to read from a variety of sources.
- Election debates. The French language debate will air on September 8, from 6-8 PM MDT, and the English debate on September 9, from 7-9 PM MDT (Ghosh, 2021). The topics for each debate have already been announced. The English debate will focus on 1) affordability, 2) climate change, 3) COVID-19 recovery, 4) leadership and accountability, and 5) reconciliation, whereas the French debate will be centered on 1) climate, cost of living, and public finances, 2) Indigenous peoples, 3) cultural industries and identities, 4) justice and foreign policy, and 5) pandemic and healthcare (CTV News, 2021). The debates will be made available on all major Canadian TV, radio, and online platforms.
- Poll and results trackers. If you’d like an idea of where Canadians stand throughout the next couple of weeks before the election, take a look at CBC’s Poll Tracker. On election day, September 20th, 2021, all major news sources will be tracking and providing the results from each province immediately as they are counted.
That’s all for our FAQs! We hope this blog gives you a better understanding of the voting procedure, and how you can get involved this September. But the learning doesn’t stop there—we at Campus UNICEF are encouraging all readers to keep researching, and to use their voices to really make their votes count! Through education on politics, we can all exercise our rights and be empowered as Canadian citizens. Whoever you vote for—make it count!
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you in the next one!
Works Cited
CTVNews.ca. “How to Watch the Upcoming Federal Leaders’ Debates.” CTVNews, CTV News, 7 Sept. 2021, http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/federal-election-2021/how-to-watch-the-upcoming-federal-leaders-debates-1.5567068.
D’Andrea, Aaron. “Looming Federal Election All about Securing a Majority Government: Experts – National.” Global News, 13 Aug. 2021, 3:01 PM, globalnews.ca/news/8110460/federal-election-majority-government-trudeau-canada/.
Ghosh, Twinkle. “Canada Election 2021: How to Watch the Federal Leaders’ Debate on Global News – National.” Global News, Global News, 2 Sept. 2021, globalnews.ca/news/8158397/canada-election-2021-leaders-debate-watch-global-news/.
McPhail, Brenda. “Voting in Canada: The First Past the Post System.” CCLA, 25 Jan. 2018, ccla.org/voting-canada-first-past-post-system/.
“Media Bias/Fact Check.” Media Bias/Fact Check, 2017, mediabiasfactcheck.com/.
Tunney, Catharine, and Christian Paas-Lang. “Canada Is Headed for a Federal Election on Sept. 20 | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 16 Aug. 2021, http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-election-call-1.6141189.
Written by Kritika Taparia and Sara Assaf
Edited by Anson Wong
Campus UNICEF 