Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by lateforwork 143 days ago
Most importantly—and this is not mentioned in the blog—Canadians take comfort in the fact that someone like Trump will never come to power in Canada. The Prime Minister is not chosen by direct popular vote. Rather, the leader of the party that wins control of the House becomes Prime Minister.

As to who becomes a party leader: Party leaders are picked internally by party members via leadership races, not by the general public. This is good because the leader is selected not by "Low Information Voters" swayed by short-term issues like egg prices (as in the US), but by people who have gone through a qualification filter.

Post-election, the PM must sustain the House's confidence, with no-confidence votes possible anytime. So it is not necessary to watch helplessly for 4 years while your PM destroys the country.
3 comments
gucci-on-fleek 143 days ago
> Party leaders are picked internally by party members via leadership races

Correct.

> not by the general public. This is good because the leader is selected not by "Low Information Voters" […] but by people who have gone through a qualification filter

Not really. It's true that only party members can vote, but the only requirements to be a party member are to be a Canadian citizen and to not be a member of another party [0] [1], which is effectively the exact same requirements that the US primaries have.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Liberal_Party_of_Canada_l...

[1]: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/how-will-canadas-next...

link
lateforwork 142 days ago
I think the difference is that in the US all it takes is one pied piper because voters can vote directly to elect him president. In Canada, the pied piper is going to need more pied pipers under him to be elected as MPs.
link
jfim 143 days ago
I'm a bit disconnected from Canadian politics these days, but wasn't Pierre Poilièvre polling quite well compared to the liberals until the US election?

And while it's true that there are no confidence votes, Harper has prorogued the parliament before in order to prevent such a vote.

Canadian politics is healthier in general than in the US but it's not a panacea.

link
retired 143 days ago
> Rather, the leader of the party that wins control of the House becomes Prime Minister.

That is literally how Adolf Hitler became Chancellor (Prime Minister), as leader of the NSDAP.

link