POLSCI 3J03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Pierre Trudeau, Proportional Representation, The Quebecers

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLSCI 3J03
• Professor: Jacek Henry

Document Summary

Majority vs minority - seats - both federal and provincial. Historically canadian always have liked strong gov"t because they was to prevent external threat (the us) - defensive nationalism - strong economic policies that would prevent foreign influence. There are times when the party with the most popular votes don"t have the most seats - saskatchewan 20-30 years ago and quebec. Since the opposition obtained more than half of the opposition seats it is considered to be a strong opposition that will question and criticise the majority all the time. Proportional representation means the number of seats is reflected by the number of votes - the ndp tends to get less seats than the percentage of votes - 19. 7% of popular vote but 13% of seats. Go back to 1965 - between then and now there has been change and turmoil for the liberals.