Is Canada a republic?

[Emma]

Hey Canadians, what is your political structure?

I mostly live in Australia (Australian citizen), so I'm most atuned to it's structure. As you may know, we've been trying to break all political ties with Britain. About 3/4 of the population want to become a republic, but we're stuck on how it should be implemented. eg Should the president be elected by the population, or by the prime minister, or by 2/3 majority of parliament etc there are many variations on these.

I have the feeling that Canada has become a republic. What is the structure (positions, how they are elected/selected etc).

 

[Cycad]

Is Canada a country?

Philosophy is a great subject. People have been asking these questions since Canada was started.

 

[Looney]

Confederation with parliamentary elections/democracy.

If you had a PM, why would you need a president?

 

[Sealy]

Googled

 

[Chaotic42]

No, it's a part of Germany now.

Link

 

[Looney]

You know, i really wish Canada would break from Britain as well. But the majority of people are just happy with the way things are... so there isn't the motivation to.

 

[Emma]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Confederacy with parliamentary elections/democracy.

If you had a PM, why would you need a president?

Well we have a PM, a Governor-General AND the Queen. Only one of them really does any work, while the G-G does the ceremonial work.

If we break away from Britain totally, we would then call our G-G a President. But it will be nothing like the US President. It will have no say over the day to day political activities of the nation.

So are you saying that the PM doesn't have a G-G/President to keep the PM in check? Interesting.

So basically, our G-G is a figure-head, kept aside from the political system, but is there just in case the PM loses the plot lol

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Emma

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Confederacy with parliamentary elections/democracy.

If you had a PM, why would you need a president?

Well we have a PM, a Governor-General AND the Queen. Only one of them really does any work, while the G-G does the ceremonial work.

If we break away from Britain totally, we would then call our G-G a President. But it will be nothing like the US President. It will have no say over the day to day political activities of the nation.

So are you saying that the PM doesn't have a G-G/President to keep the PM in check? Interesting.

So basically, our G-G is a figure-head, kept aside from the political system, but is there just in case the PM loses the plot lol

No, we have a GG as well... the PM has the real power... GG is just a ceremonial position appointed by the Queen i believe.

But if you break off from Britain, why not get rid of the PM, and get a real President. Why would you need a ceremonial President for? What the GG is, was supposedly just somebody who reported to the queen about what the PM did... of course, the Queen doesn't even have official power anymore, so that doesn't matter. What would the President do? Report to the Queen still?

 

[B00ne]

Originally posted by: Emma

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Confederacy with parliamentary elections/democracy.

If you had a PM, why would you need a president?

Well we have a PM, a Governor-General AND the Queen. Only one of them really does any work, while the G-G does the ceremonial work.

If we break away from Britain totally, we would then call our G-G a President. But it will be nothing like the US President. It will have no say over the day to day political activities of the nation.

So are you saying that the PM doesn't have a G-G/President to keep the PM in check? Interesting.

So basically, our G-G is a figure-head, kept aside from the political system, but is there just in case the PM loses the plot lol

That sounds just like the structure of most western democracies, Our President doesnt have much say either it's more a representative person, the chancellor (PM) is the guy that calls the shotsbut very unlike to the US president.

Actually the US president combines so much power in one hand - it is more like mimicking an (elected) King

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: B00ne

Originally posted by: Emma

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Confederacy with parliamentary elections/democracy.

If you had a PM, why would you need a president?

Well we have a PM, a Governor-General AND the Queen. Only one of them really does any work, while the G-G does the ceremonial work.

If we break away from Britain totally, we would then call our G-G a President. But it will be nothing like the US President. It will have no say over the day to day political activities of the nation.

So are you saying that the PM doesn't have a G-G/President to keep the PM in check? Interesting.

So basically, our G-G is a figure-head, kept aside from the political system, but is there just in case the PM loses the plot lol

That sounds just like the structure of most western democracies, Our President doesnt have much say either it's more a representative person, the chancellor (PM) is the guy that calls the shotsbut very unlike to the US president.

Actually the US president combines so much power in one hand - it is more like mimicking an (elected) King

Ah... i'm not familiar with political science, so i'm not too aware of all the modern political structures.

But that's not true about the US president's power. The US power structure is divided into 3 different branches.
1) Legislative Branch (makes the laws and passes president's decisions), who is controlled by congress.
2) Judiciary Branch (interprets and carries out the laws), are held by the Supreme Court and the judicial system
3) Executive Branch, which is what the President does.

I'm sure i butchered the structure system... been a long time since i've studied it, but that's pretty much what it is. If we ever break off from England, i would hope we follow the American system myself.

So what is the position of the President in your democracies? Are they elected by the people, or the PM? And what does the President exactly do?

 

[Emma]

Originally posted by: MoralpanicAh... i'm not familiar with political science, so i'm not too aware of all the modern political structures.

But that's not true about the US president's power. The US power structure is divided into 3 different branches.
1) Legislative Branch (makes the laws and passes president's decisions), who is controlled by congress.
2) Judiciary Branch (interprets and carries out the laws), are held by the Supreme Court and the judicial system
3) Executive Branch, which is what the President does.

I'm sure i butchered the structure system... been a long time since i've studied it, but that's pretty much what it is. If we ever break off from England, i would hope we follow the American system myself.

So what is the position of the President in your democracies? Are they elected by the people, or the PM? And what does the President exactly do?

Our system seems very effective, so we don't wont to tinker with it too much. The G-G is effectively what will become our President once we break ties with the Queen. It's pretty complicated and although I understand it well enough to know what is going on, it would take too long for me to explain it properly.

 

[Aquaman]

I think if any commonwealth country breaks away from the commonwealth the position of G-G will be moot & will just be eliminated. PM is like the President.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Looney]

Yeah, i'm just curious what your GG-President does... we have a GG, but 99.9% of Canadians doesn't know he exist, because he doesn't do anything! I bet he spends most of his time in Cancun or something.

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Yeah, i'm just curious what your GG-President does... we have a GG, but 99.9% of Canadians doesn't know he exist, because he doesn't do anything! I bet he spends most of his time in Cancun or something.

Actually our G-G is a woman Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson :Q

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Looney]

Well see... i'm part of the 0.1% that knows about the GG, yet i didn't even know she was a woman (actually, i was kind of suspicious she was... was just too lazy to check though)

 

[Aceshigh]

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Yeah, i'm just curious what your GG-President does... we have a GG, but 99.9% of Canadians doesn't know he exist, because he doesn't do anything! I bet he spends most of his time in Cancun or something.

Actually our G-G is a woman Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson :Q

Cheers,
Aquaman

I like her too. I saw a speech she gave one time and enjoyed it. Wish she was PM instead of Cretien.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Aceshigh

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Yeah, i'm just curious what your GG-President does... we have a GG, but 99.9% of Canadians doesn't know he exist, because he doesn't do anything! I bet he spends most of his time in Cancun or something.

Actually our G-G is a woman Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson :Q

Cheers,
Aquaman

I like her too. I saw a speech she gave one time and enjoyed it. Wish she was PM instead of Cretien.

Yeah, i remember seeing a special on her a few years ago.

 

[Looney]

How the heck does a Texan know about the GG when 99.9% of Canadians don't even know?

 

[Aceshigh]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
How the heck does a Texan know about the GG when 99.9% of Canadians don't even know?

I have an interest in geography and political leaders kind of go along with that.

 

[Emma]

Originally posted by: Aquaman
I think if any commonwealth country breaks away from the commonwealth the position of G-G will be moot & will just be eliminated. PM is like the President.

Cheers,
Aquaman

No, we'd like to keep our figure-head apart from the political system. The G-G opened the Sydney Olympics, and opens a lot of other things like it. Basically, the position is for ceremonial purposes. The G-G once sacked our PM in the 1970's, so it has played a political role. So the position has been a bit more prominent ever since.

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: Emma

Originally posted by: Aquaman
I think if any commonwealth country breaks away from the commonwealth the position of G-G will be moot & will just be eliminated. PM is like the President.

Cheers,
Aquaman

No, we'd like to keep our figure-head apart from the political system. The G-G opened the Sydney Olympics, and opens a lot of other things like it. Basically, the position is for ceremonial purposes. The G-G once sacked our PM in the 1970's, so it has played a political role. So the position has been a bit more prominent ever since.

Yeah our G-G can do that stuff also but it's rare for the G-G to sack the PM unless the PM has done something incredibly stupid.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Emma

Originally posted by: Aquaman
I think if any commonwealth country breaks away from the commonwealth the position of G-G will be moot & will just be eliminated. PM is like the President.

Cheers,
Aquaman

No, we'd like to keep our figure-head apart from the political system. The G-G opened the Sydney Olympics, and opens a lot of other things like it. Basically, the position is for ceremonial purposes. The G-G once sacked our PM in the 1970's, so it has played a political role. So the position has been a bit more prominent ever since.

hmm so you're paying somebody just to do ceremonies? I really don't see the point in that. Get rid of the PM and GG, and have a President who's purpose would be to not only lead the country, but can do the occasional ceremonies as well.

And how would the GG/President get their position? By appointment by the PM, or elected by the people? If elected, what kind of criteria would people judge them by? Seems kind of odd.

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic

Originally posted by: Emma

Originally posted by: Aquaman
I think if any commonwealth country breaks away from the commonwealth the position of G-G will be moot & will just be eliminated. PM is like the President.

Cheers,
Aquaman

No, we'd like to keep our figure-head apart from the political system. The G-G opened the Sydney Olympics, and opens a lot of other things like it. Basically, the position is for ceremonial purposes. The G-G once sacked our PM in the 1970's, so it has played a political role. So the position has been a bit more prominent ever since.

hmm so you're paying somebody just to do ceremonies? I really don't see the point in that. Get rid of the PM and GG, and have a President who's purpose would be to not only lead the country, but can do the occasional ceremonies as well.

And how would the GG/President get their position? By appointment by the PM, or elected by the people? If elected, what kind of criteria would people judge them by? Seems kind of odd.

I beleive appointed by the PM to represent the Queen

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Looney]

Ours is appointed by the Queen.

But who i was asking was Emma... how her GG/President would be appointed/elected if they break off from Britain.

 

[ElFenix]

what would be the point of breaking ties with england?