[pritchke]

[quote]Originally posted by Yorick:

Pritchke, are Senators in Canada not elected?

Nope, just appointed. Would be better that they were elected but they are chosen based on region and population. I think it would be better that they are elected but by being appointed they do have the experience required to make laws. I was of the mind that it should be disbanded all together but they do come up with and create some very good laws on occasion when they are not living in Flordia or Mexico. They are all mostly retired MPs and lawyers so they do have experience.

Secondly a British/Australian Prime Minister has far less power than a US president, so I'd guess the Canadian PM does too. Namely it's that their cabinet and party can fire the PM at any time by mounting a leadership challenge, so there's more accountability to the party and the people the PM is directly relating to every day.

Yes the MPs can have a vote of no confidence like in SW Eposide 1. Actually in a minority you have to tread carefully here because the other parties can have a vote of no confidence in the PM. This is the best thing about the Canadian system and it generally makes minorities work together to get things done. It is not done often because the parties who do this often get heat for forcing us to the polls again. Recently done with former PM Paul Martin he lost the no confidence vote the 2nd time around so an election and his party lost.

[ 11-15-2006, 05:52 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]