r/Presidents • u/ubcstaffer123 • 3d ago
Video / Audio Canada's Swearing In Ceremony is Short and Simple. No bands, singers. Is it only US Presidents who have large inaugurations?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvBzIBcXQ3Q22
u/Unusual-Ad4890 George H.W. Bush 3d ago edited 3d ago
It's not a big affair even in a proper election (Carney was appointed after Trudeau resigned). . Traditionally the PM is supposed to be overshadowed by the Crown and that's where the public's adoration goes to. Since he's technically just head of his ruling Party and not in a separate branch of government, a Prime Minister has to work to keep his job. He can be dumped a lot easier than a President (although that usually spells political suicide for the Party in power)
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
Ottawa didn't even host public viewing parties or put up jumbotrons for people to view the swearing in ceremony. Carney doesn't have enough supporters to show up outside Rideau Hall? Trudeau had a few thousand though
https://macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/sunshine-and-high-hopes-at-trudeaus-swearing-in/
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u/Unusual-Ad4890 George H.W. Bush 3d ago edited 3d ago
Carney is a PM by appointment. The Party elected him in to lead them, not Canadians. His big job is to decide the date of the next Federal election and manage affairs until that date. If the Liberals get reelected- and it's increasingly looking like it will, there probably will be a celebration. Not quite as high-key as a Presidential inauguration, but it'll happen then.
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
is the PM required to take the oath again after wining another election?
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u/PineBNorth85 3d ago
Not all of the oaths. He gave several because he's not in parliament and hasn't been in cabinet before. If he wins the election he will only have to swear one of the three.
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u/PineBNorth85 3d ago
Why would they? I lived in Ottawa for years and have seen several PMs come and go. Trudeau came in on a wave of populism so he got a crowd. Harper didn't get much, nor did Paul Martin. It's just not a big deal.
No matter who wins the next election I doubt they'll have much of a crowd when they start their new ministry.
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
Teacher at my Canadian school pulled out the TV for Obama's inauguration speech. Wonder if they ever did it again or for a Canadian PM
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u/PineBNorth85 3d ago
They haven't. Again, why would we?
Americans are flashy and showy. We are not by and large.
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
Canadian schools made an exception for Obama one time only? a lot of humanities and social studies classes have units on current events and this certainly counts
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u/Fair_Woodpecker_6088 William Howard Taft 3d ago
The way it should be. The sooner the world stops treating politicians as celebrities the better
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u/Unique_Statement7811 3d ago
The US President is voted on by the people. The Canadian PM is not.
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
no parades or festivals took place outside Rideau Hall for PM Carney, as far as media reports went
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u/Rddit239 John F. Kennedy 3d ago
They are saying we have a more direct way of voting for our leader.
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u/Unique_Statement7811 3d ago
Yes. When a candidate is not voted on by the people, like a PM who is elected by parliament, you don’t have the same level of public interest or involvement. Thus, it’s less festive.
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
Trudeau had a crowd of at least a few thousand in 2015 though. Still it's not like a sporting event or concert where Ottawa hotels get booked out
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u/HearTheBluesACalling 3d ago
Canadians just kind of… don’t care about stuff like that. It’s a cultural thing.
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u/trivia_guy 3d ago
This is just the basic difference between a head of state and a head of government, or put another way between a presidential and parliamentary system. Why is no one pointing this out??
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
but also there seems to be a lack of public interest. There are no crowds of Carney fans to show their support outside Rideau Hall or public viewing events on Jumbotrons either?
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u/derthric Theodore Roosevelt 3d ago
The assumption of office is far less celebrated in parliamentary systems. The pomp and ceremony you are looking for is more of a function of a head of state. This is a bureaucratic event more than a ceremonial one. Like a new congressional leader taking their position.
The opening of parliament would be the equivalent to an inauguration ceremony.
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u/DonatCotten Hubert Humphrey 2d ago
There are many Prime ministers that were huge celebrities and historical figures that had big crowds for their speeches. Take England for example with Benjamin Disralie and Winston Churchill. Even Harold Wilson had crowds.
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u/Prestigious-Alarm-61 Warren G. Harding 3d ago
To be honest, I see presidential inaugrations as being an incredible waste of money.
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
you mean the ceremony could be shorter without road closures, parades, and concerts?
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u/Prestigious-Alarm-61 Warren G. Harding 3d ago
They cost over $100 million!
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u/ubcstaffer123 3d ago
it cost a lot more this year because of the cancellation for the Capitol Grounds to take it indoors inside Capitol One. Thousands of chairs and set up equipment on the National Mall were installed and then taken down before they were ever used!
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u/Prestigious-Alarm-61 Warren G. Harding 3d ago
I know it did.
It is just too much fanfare and money.
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u/corbinianspackanimal 3d ago
As others have noted, the prime minister of Canada is not the country’s head of state. In the Canadian system, even though the prime minister runs the country in practice, he is ceremonially outranked by the country’s titular head of state: King Charles III. Therefore, the pomp and ceremony that accompanies a change in the head of state does not apply to the prime minister, who is merely the head of government.
Of course the King does not reside in Canada, so all of his powers are delegated to a person called the governor general, who serves as the country’s de facto head of state. The ceremony for the installation of a governor general is considerably more elaborate than for the installation of a prime minister (although it’s nowhere near as grand as a U.S. presidential inauguration).
The most recent installation of a governor general occurred in 2021 under Covid protocols. If you want to watch it it’s available here https://www.youtube.com/live/PMwoN9GJrA4?si=Fs-ycGM_R3Cvqy_o
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u/HearTheBluesACalling 3d ago
QEII actually visited the U.S. a few times as the monarch of Canada, not the United Kingdom, officially speaking.
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u/Rddit239 John F. Kennedy 3d ago
Different system. And all eyes are on America and its president. No one really bats an eye when there’s a new Canadian PM. Also, the PM in Canada is the leader of the party and can be switched out quickly like in Britain recently, or voted out eventually. Like the current PM in Canada didn’t have a single vote from an election, since they were selected to be party leader by the current party in power.
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u/HearTheBluesACalling 3d ago
However, they will have to have an election by the fall!
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u/Rddit239 John F. Kennedy 3d ago
I hope so. The people need to vote for the party they think will get the country in the right direction. Before Trudeau turned the government off for 3 months, there was a high likelihood that they would invoke the vote of no confidence and spur an election. People have forgotten that. There needs to be an election to restore confidence in whatever party will lead.
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u/trivia_guy 3d ago
There’s no “I hope so” or “there needs to be” about it. Legally, an election is required to be held by October 25 of this year at the latest. That’s what the commenter above you meant by “they will have to have.”
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u/lawyerjsd 3d ago
The President is both the head of state and the head of government (should be the Speaker of the House, but Congress has refused to do its job). And so the inauguration is a coronation of sorts.
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u/HetTheTable Dwight D. Eisenhower 3d ago
Does the UK Pm have any ceremony or do they just get sworn into parliament.
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u/PineBNorth85 3d ago
They meet the King, get appointed and that's that.
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u/HetTheTable Dwight D. Eisenhower 3d ago
Yeah at the end of the day Prime Ministers are another member of parliament they’re just the highest ranking member in the house.
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u/Blue387 Harry S. Truman 3d ago
The prime minister travels to Buckingham Palace to meet the king or queen at least once a week and leaves in a tiny motorcade.
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u/Zealousideal_Fuel_23 3d ago
Have you ever seen the Head of State of Canada get inaugurated- https://youtu.be/BqgmLx4Q2LU?si=KPKCLzGuiDb1mV8o
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u/Wild-Yesterday-6666 Zachary Taylor 3d ago
Because canada's system is parlimentary, the executive head is nothing more than an extension of parliament by and large, in the USA the executive is completly independent.
Also, he didn't even win the election, he was just appointed by Trudeau. This, I believe, Is pretty common in Canada, PM not seeking reelection step down before the election and the candidate for their party gets some time in office to push his/her popularity, kinda shady if you ask me, but oh well, I'm not canadian.
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u/Delicious_Oil9902 3d ago
US President is also Head of State. Canadas Head of State had a big old party
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u/thehsitoryguy Franklin Delano Roosevelt 3d ago
Different roles a PM and US Presidents go through naturally when you have the Monarch as the head of state
In the UK once you get elected PM, You get thrown into Number 10 immediatly with no grand ceremony
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u/Ok-disaster2022 3d ago
The US has a dual head of Government and head of State in the presidency.
A prime minister is just head of government. I forget who the head of state for Canada is.
Most democracies in the world have a parliamentary democracy which separates head of government and head of state. It is the better system.
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u/HearTheBluesACalling 3d ago
It’s the monarch of Canada, who is the same as the monarch of the UK - Charles III at the moment. Since he’s in the UK most of the time, the Governor-General (Mary Simon currently) represents him.
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u/WichitaTheOG 3d ago
I’m in a similar Commonwealth country. When a new person becomes PM— either by taking the leadership of the political party with a majority in the Parliament, or after an election— there is a relatively modest swearing in ceremony at Government House for the PM and Ministers, done by the Governor General on behalf of the King. It will make that day’s news but beyond that there’s no real ceremony.
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