CANADA'S 150th: A BIRTHDAY OR A FUNERAL?

by Rémi Tremblay

Two weeks ago, the world's attention was turned towards Washington and New York with Trump's Inauguration Day and the many politically correct demonstrations and near riots surrounding the event. Women clamoring for abortion rights and unions arguing for more outsourcing managed to seize the cameras' attention for the rest of the week, not surprisingly as some of them were dressed as giant vaginas.

It was against this background of already saturated newsrooms that Statistics Canada released one of its numerous reports. Only this time the content should have made the world's headlines.

According to the governmental organization, in the year 2036 first generation and second generation immigrants will account for 49.5% of the population. Yes, immigrants and their children will account for one out of two Canadians.

THINKING OF VOTING, EH?

by Rémi Tremblay

On August 2nd, Canadian Prime minister Stephen Harper launched the longest and therefore most expensive electoral campaign in Canadian history, one that will culminate on October 19th with Canucks voting for their MPs.

Canada lives under a parliamentary monarchy, a system imported from Great Britain. But unlike in Old Albion, the political parties running in the federal elections differ from those running for provincial or city elections. While non-mainstream parties can do well at local elections if they campaign on local issues, they find it almost impossible to make a breakthrough at the federal level because of the constituency-based electoral system. Because of this, we have no nationalist party like France's Front National or even the BNP. Although we are not trapped in a two-party system, like our Southern neighbours, only a few mainstream parties can hope to have MPs elected.