Federal elections: Student worksheet

1. What promise was made to Canada's five major regions by an Act of Parliament in 1996?
2. Use the table "House of Commons Seats" to identify Canada's five major regions. What are they?
3. According to the text, which region has presented the greatest concern to the federal Parliament? What vote added to that concern?
4. How has Parliament responded to that concern?
5. What evidence is presented by the table "House of Commons Seats" to show that the nature of Canadian election results have changed from the 1980s to the 1990s? Describe the Change.
6. Which regions appear to be keeping a national focus according in their voting patterns and which regions appear to be voting for more regional interests in the 1997 election?
7. Using the text section "The Electorate," explain the difference between our current system of electing representatives to Parliament and a proportional representative system.
8. Explain how our system of election makes the growths of regionalism inside Parliament appear more extreme than it would appear under a proportional representative system.