The type of government Canada has is a federal constitutional parliamentary monarchy. On the other hand the United States has a federal constitutional republic with 3 branches of government including the president and congress. Americans vote for the candidate of their choice for president, and the winner in each state gets a certain number of Electoral College votes to decide the eventual winner. While in Canada, one who gets the most votes in a multiparty system gets a representative seat as a member of Parliament. The party with the most Members of Parliament forms the government, with that party’s leader becoming the Prime Minister.
Many have said that Stephen Harper, a Conservative who has held power for almost a decade in Canada needs to go. Some hope that the more voters saw of upcoming new liberal Justin Trudeau during his first term as leader of the Liberal Party, the less they would like him. Early Conservative ads point out Trudeau’s relative political inexperience. For many Canadians, the election is something of a vote on Mr. Harper’s conservative hold of the government which in the view of his power, has been specific and often focused on issues important to focus Conservative supporters rather than to a majority of the population.
This shows some of the similarities and differences of Canadian and American politics. One thing that may keep the Liberals from making progress is that they are less united than the minority conservatives. One big push for change that is common in the United States as well as Canada is the popular opinion regarding the environment and climate change.
