A History Of The Vote In Canada

Cet ouvrage couvre la période qui va de 1758 à nos jours.

On the eve of celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote in Canada comes a timely reassessment of everything Canadians thought they knew about the history of women, the vote, and democracy in our nation

"This publication presents a fascinating account of the struggles and reforms that have shaped Canada's electoral system from pre-Confederation times to the present day.Originally researched and published in 1997 and updated in 2007, this third edition – issued in conjunction with Elections Canada's 100th anniversary in 2020 – includes important legislative and administrative developments that have taken place over the past decade and a half, providing researchers and educators with a current chronology of the franchise and voting practices in Canada."--Publisher's website.

Behind the Man is the unique "biography" of Alberta political figure John Lee Laurie, a key proponent of Aboriginal rights in the 1940s and 1950s. Before 1961, the Aboriginal people of Canada could only vote in Federal elections if they agreed to become "Canadian," that is, to leave their reserves, give up their treaty rights, and leave behind their homes, farms, and families. Laurie was instrumental in securing amendments to the Indian Act in 1961 which gave Aboriginals the unfettered vote. Author Ruth Gorman worked tirelessly alongside Laurie during these years, and was herself a major force in mobilizing public opinion in support of the Aboriginal vote. Out of modesty and concern for the social constraints of her day, though, Gorman did not lay public claim to these efforts, and remained a passionately vocal supporter of John Laurie for the rest of her life. By 1998, she had been working on a book about Laurie for several years, but, nearing the end of her life and overwhelmed by the projects scope, she persuaded Dr. Frits Pannekoek to assist her in seeing it to completion. As Dr. Pannekoek began to sort through Gorman's many boxes of material, he quickly realized that this book was both a biography and an autobiography the story was as much Gorman's as it was Laurie's. In the tradition of her era, Gorman had taken the position of "the woman behind the man," but she was nonetheless proud of her life's work, and found an "acceptable" way of telling her own part in the story. Behind the Man introduces Ruth Gorman as one of Alberta's most interesting female historical figures -- a career woman struggling to balance home life and work obligations, overcoming frustrations at her hard work being overshadowed by a more visible figure, and reminding us that there is always more than one point of view when it comes to recording history

The Canadian party system is a deviant case among the Anglo-American democracies. Unruly and inscrutable, it is a system that defies logic and classification – until now. In this political science tour de force, Richard Johnston makes sense of the Canadian party system. With a keen eye for history and deft use of recently developed analytic tools, he articulates a series of propositions that underpin the system. For its combination of historical breadth and data-intensive rigour, The Canadian Party System is a rare achievement. Its findings shed light on the main puzzles of the Canadian case, while contesting the received wisdom of the comparative study of parties, elections, and electoral systems elsewhere.

During the 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party pledged that, if elected, they would end the “first past the post” electoral system, where whichever candidate receives the most votes wins a riding even if they have not received a majority of all votes cast. In early 2017, the Liberals reneged on their campaign promise, declaring that there was a lack of public consensus about how to reform the system. Despite the broken promise – and because of the public outcry – discussions about electoral reform will continue around the country. Challenging the idea that first past the post is obsolete, Should We Change How We Vote? urges Canadians to make sure they understand their electoral system before making drastic changes to it. The contributors to this volume assert that there is perhaps no institution more misunderstood and misrepresented than the Canadian electoral system – praised by some for ensuring broad regional representation in Ottawa, but criticized by others for allowing political parties with less than half the popular vote to assume more than half the seats in Parliament. They consider not only how the system works, but also its flaws and its advantages, and whether or not electoral reform is legitimate without a referendum. An essential guide to the crucial and ongoing debate about the country’s future, Should We Change How We Vote? asks if there are alternative reforms that would be easier to implement than a complete overhaul of the electoral system.

While Quebec is well known for its provincial-level party politics and thriving nationalism, voting behaviour and electoral campaigning at the municipal level have failed to gain much attention to date. Voting in Quebec Municipal Elections seeks to transform the state of municipal elections research in Quebec through a systematic study of the 2017 Montreal and Quebec City elections. Drawing upon data from the Canadian Municipal Election Study, the authors demonstrate not only the importance of Quebec municipal politics, but the many ways that municipal elections research can inform our broader understanding of voting behaviour in the province. This volume considers the features particular to the Quebec local context, such as the importance of language and nationalism, the effects of local party labels for down-ballot races, and the role of ideology. Voting in Quebec Municipal Elections represents the largest-ever collection of work on local elections in the province’s history, making a significant contribution to our understanding of the municipal voter in Quebec.