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Originally Posted by lukethebandgeek
Yeah, and we Americans are going to voice our displeasure of the Canadian president, or prime minister, or queen, or whatever you have.
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The Queen is the Head of State. Technically, the Queen of Canada, through her representative, the Governor General, is the single most powerful person in Canada. The Queen's (and GG's) powers make the US president look like a figurehead.
The Governor General is Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson. (official title)
The Queen is Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. (official title)
The GG (and Queen) never use their powers, other than at the behest of the government. The last time the GG used his theoretical power was over 100 years ago, I believe.
Two examples of the GG's/Queens power includes the ability to veto any bill, and the ability to dissolve parliament (causing an election) at will.
The head of government in Canada is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the head of the party which the GG has chosen to form the government (normally the largest party in the house of commons, with few exceptions -- there are traditions). Practically, the Prime Minister, if the head of a strong majority government, is much more powerful than the US president. Theoretically, the PM's only powers are derived by the consent of the Members of Parliament.
Traditionally, the GG uses her powers when the government loses confidence (and either chooses a new government, or dissolves parliament), or when the PM asks her to dissolve parliament (there is a traditional ritual -- the PM walks from his house to the GG's house, they chat, and after a bit the GG announces that, on the request of the PM, parliament has been dissolved).
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(Truthfully though, I don't know the name of the President, but I think it's Paul Martin.)
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The PM is Paul Martin.
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I just came back from the great friendly north, and I found that most people know more american polotics than Canadian. I found that interesting.
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Canadian politics are pretty simple.
There are 5 or so parties.
The Conservative/Reform/Alliance/name-of-the-week party. This party is mostly a western regional party (in terms of seats), but has recently consumed the corpse of one of the traditional national parties (in fact, the party of Canada's first PM) and gained in power that way.
The Bloc Quebecios. This is a seperatist party from the provice of Quebec. The majority of Quebec doesn't want to seperate, but they elect seperatists anyhow.
The New Democratic Party. A left wing party. National base, usually between 5 and 50 seats elected in a 300-odd house.
The Liberal Party. This is the current minority government party. Until recently it had held majority control for over a decade. It's political support is, well, everywhere the other parties aren't: Ontario, the East Coast, contests with the reform-varients on the west coast and in the praries, and contests with the Bloc in Quebec.
Right now, Canadian politics are in an interesting state. A non-coalition minority government. In order for parliament to pass any bill, the liberals need the support of either the Bloc or the Conservative party. Alternatively, Liberals + NDP + a few Bloc/Conservative line-crossers can pass a bill.
Voting along party lines is almost a given in the Canadian parliamentary system.
Like I said, simple.