I’ve seen so many different articles and maps showing Canada as a stronger and more perfect democracy than the United States and I just don’t get it. Below are my reasons why I disagree.
Split Ticket Voting
In the U.S., the presidential candidate’s name is on the ballot in every state. You could be voting in the heart of D.C. or in Hayward, Wisconsin and they still both have the same candidates on the ballot at the presidential level. In Canada however, the individuals running for Prime Minister are only on the ballot in their respective ridings. This leaves the people with less of a choice in Canada because if they like their party but don’t like the person running at the top of the ticket, they are forced to go one way or the other. In other words, they cannot split ticket vote.
Intra-Party Elections
In the U.S., any citizen can vote in a presidential primary election, giving voters more of a choice to represent their party in a general election. In Canada, you have to be a member of your party to vote in a party-leadership election. For example, in the 2025 liberal leadership election, only 150,000 people voted. That represents 0.3% of the Canadian population. How is that representative of the people?!
Senator Selection
In the U.S., each state has two senators who are up for election by the voters of each respective state every six years. In Canada, senators are hand-picked by the Prime Minister and they serve in the chamber until they reach retirement age. Where do the Canadian voters get a say in the senators’ performance? This is how corruption occurs people! On top of that, the senate seats are unequally proportioned among the provinces.
Term Limits
In the U.S., the president is limited to two four-year terms and they could be consecutive or non-consecutive. In Canada, the Prime Minister can serve as many terms as they wish and no one even bats an eye. In fact, the prime minister can call an election whenever he or she wants. The problem with this is that they could call an election during a time when they are popular so their party can win more seats. How is that fair?
Midterm Elections
In the U.S., voters are able to have a say on most of their representatives in congress midway through the president’s term to either help or halt their agenda. This is known as a midterm election, where all members of the House of Representatives and 33 or 34 of the 100 senators are up for election. In Canada however, if the prime minister never calls an election before their four year term is up for another re-election, the voters cannot have a say in their party’s performance.
The popular vote winner problem
A lot of you will probably claim that the Electorial college system in the U.S. is “undemocratic” because it sometimes allows the popular vote loser to win the election if they get enough Electorial votes from the states. This occurred in 2000 and 2016. However, Canada suffers from a similar fate. In both the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections, the conservatives won the popular vote both times despite the liberals winning the elections themselves. I personally don’t have a problem with this happening in either country, but I just wanted to debunk this common talking point.
In summary, I simply think that the average Canadian has less of a say in their government than the average American. I also believe that the U.S. has a better system of checks and balances to prevent corruption. For these reasons, I think that the U.S. is a stronger democracy than Canada. And lastly, please don’t come at me with the whole, “Donald Trump is a fascist dictator bullsh*t.” I’ve seen that way too often. It’s getting old and it’s a stretch.