How do elections work in Canada?
Remember, we don't really elect a Prime Minister. Every party has a leader. Canadians vote for a party. The leader of the party with the most votes become Prime Minister.
There is a huge building in Ottawa, called the
Parliament Building. It's a beautiful, castle-like building much loved by
Canadians across the country. Inside this building there is a room called the
House of Commons, it's a big, fancy room with 338 seats in it, actual seats,
their green, soft comfortable seats with little desks in front of them. Half
the seats are on one side of the room, half are on the other.
They all face the
center.
Every seat represents a part of the country.
To understand elections in Canada, we need to understand
the idea of a riding. A riding is a word that means a part of the country.
Canada is divided up into ridings. Kind of like a large puzzle with pieces that
all fit together. Here in Meaford we live in a riding called Bruce-Grey-Owen
Sound.
Guess how many ridings there are in Canada?
Three-hundred and thirty-eight.
So, in every riding, a member of each party is
trying to get elected.
Here are the Candidates for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound:
- Larry Miller is running for the
Conservative Party.
- David MacLaren is running for the NDP.
- Kimberley Love is running for the
Liberal Party.
- Chris Albinati is running for the Green
Party.
One of these people is going to get a seat in the
House of Commons. The seat gets assigned to them, the go to Ottawa for four
years, and go to the House of Commons everyday to sit in their seat, participate
in meetings, listen to speeches, help make decisions, and participate in
debates.
When your parents go to vote in a few weeks, they
get to choose from one of the four candidates above.
The same thing is
happening all across the country. Every riding has candidates from each party
trying to win.
Whichever party has the most seats in the House of
Commons will become the government and their leader will become Prime Minister.
