STUDENTS

 

Getting Elected

Manitoba elects its representatives through what is called a "first-past-the-post" system. The name of this system comes from horse racing, where the first horse to cross the finish line wins. In terms of elections, the phrase means that the winning candidate is the one who has won the most votes out of all of those running for election. In other words, the winner does not need to win the majority of all votes, just the largest number of votes of all the votes cast. The candidate to win the most votes wins the election, and all those receiving less votes completely lose...there is no run-off or second election. 

Politicians in Manitoba stand for election in political districts called "constituencies". There are 57 constituencies in Manitoba. Though many people may run for election within a particular constituency, only one can be elected as the representative. When a person wins the election in a constituency, they are said to have "won the seat" in the Legislative Assembly. 


Party Politics

People who wish to be elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Manitoba are usually members of a political party. A political party is a group of like-minded people who believe in a common policies and approaches to running a government. Political parties seek to win the majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly in order to form government.

Political parties are convenient ways for people to organize their policies and beliefs, but also provide the mechanism for selecting candidates to run for election, providing information and raising money to fund campaigns.

In Manitoba, there are three main parties, the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, the New Democratic Party, and the Liberal Party of Manitoba.


Our Form of Government

Manitoba has a Parliamentary style of government, inherited from our British founders. This form of government sees the senior members of the executive branch (government leaders) drawn from the group or party that has won the most seats in the house of assembly (called the Legislative Assembly in Manitoba) in the general election. In this form of government, there is no clear separation of powers between the executive and legislative branch of the government.

Officially, all elected representatives are accountable to the Crown - the King or Queen of Canada. Within provinces in Canada, the Monarch is represented by the Lieutenant Govenor. When the leader of the majority party of Manitoba, called the Premier, needs to call an election, he or she informs the Lieutenant Govenor, who then disolves the current Assembly and calls the general election. The Lieutenant Govenor is appointed by the Govenor General of Canada (on advice by the Prime Minister), and is largely considered an honourary post, though there is real Constitutional authority vested in the Lieutenant Govenor. The Lieutenant Govenor is responsible for ensuring that there is always a duly constituted government.

Manitoba has what is called a "unicameral" (one chamber) style of government - that is, there is only one chamber of assembly, called the "Legislative Assembly". A strength of just one house of assembly is the efficiency of law-making - there is simply no other group that could potentially block or prevent a bill from becoming law. On the other side of the argument, there is no check on the authority of the lawmakers, so theoretically there is no restraint on the majority, especially considering that the leaders of the majority party in the Legislature also form the executive branch of the government.

When a party wins more than half of the seats in the Legislative Assembly, the resulting government is referred to as a "majority government". This means that when the majority party votes to pass laws in the house of assembly, that they will always win the vote so long as all the members of the government vote in favour of the motion. A majority government is a stable form of government because it has the least chance of being defeated before the usual time for an election.

When a party wins the most seats in an election, but not more than half of the seats available in the Legislative Assembly, the resulting government is referred to as a "minority government". This means that the party with the most seats risk losing votes in the Legislative Assembly because the other parties can vote against the motions of the government and defeat them. If a vote is over a bill that relates to budget, or is considered a "motion of confidence in the government", the government could be defeated and have to call a general election. Minority governments are considered less stable for this reason.


 

Making Laws

Laws start out being called "bills" - which is the working draft of what the law will become. To become law, the bill needs to be passed by the Legislative Assembly, and receive "Royal Assent" - meaning the Lieutenant Govenor must sign the bill. Once signed, the bill becomes the law of Manitoba, and is referred to as an "Act" or a "Statute".

There are several stages in the process of a bill becoming law in Manitoba:

  • Introduction and First Reading
    An MLA will move that the bill be "read" and intorduced into the House. It is not debated at this time.

  • Second Reading
    The bill is debated, and voted on. If passed, the House is saying that it agrees with the principle of the bill.

  • Committee Stage
    Members of the public may make submissions about the bill, members of the committee may make comments as well. The committee will examine the bill clause by clause and may submit amendments.

  • Report Stage
    The House considers a bill that has gone through the committee stage and all of the amendments to the bill. The MLA sponsoring the bill will move for concurrence and third reading.

  • Concurrence & Third Reading
    A motion to concur and have a third reading is the final stage for the bill in the Legislative Assembly. The bill may be debated, amendments proposed, referred back to committee, or passed. When the concurrence and third reading motion is passed, it signals the passage of the bill.

  • Royal Assent
    Once all of the stages through the House have been passed, the Lieutenant Govenor signs the law (called Royal Assent), and the bill has become Manitoba law.