Recently, there were botched and violent elections in Tanzania. Uganda is currently preparing for a general election next month. I wish it well. May these elections be credible, fair, free, and transparent. I’ve lived in Canada for more than two decades. May I pull a leaf out of Canada’s book vis-à-vis how to conduct clear, credible, fair, and free elections? For it offers positive insights.
First, elections in Canada aren’t cut-throat and corrupt. Voters choose policies, not parties and personalities. To win an election in Canada, you must present sound policies that respond to voters’ aspirations and interests. Hence, the system here doesn’t allow, accommodate, or tolerate any sort of corruption or malpractices. Candidates squarely get what they deserve. Second, there aren’t expensive or pompous campaigns. In my town of approximately 4,400 people, I’ve never seen any campaign meeting in about 17 years. Not one, not once.
When it is time for elections, Elections Canada, the electoral commission here, sets a date for elections. Public places are used to cast votes. There are four ways of voting in Canada. One can vote on election day by going to a polling station and casting one’s vote or by advance polling days, which are before the voting day. If one doesn’t want to or can’t vote in the above category, one can do so at any Elections Canada office or by mail. For those who want to vote in the last category, they provide their postal address to Elections Canada, which posts a voting kit ready for casting.
Third, with such a system, there are no huge campaign meetings everywhere in the country. There is also no chaos or rigging. Furthermore, there are no inducements or coercion since people vote for policy, not personalities or parties. This system has proved to be efficient and effective for both candidates and voters. Fourth, Canada started voting in 1867. Canada is a multiparty country.
It has many big and small political parties such as the Liberal Party of Canada, a centre-left political party that has historically been one of the two dominant parties in Canada; the Conservative Party of Canada, a centre-right political party that emerged from the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party; and the New Democratic Party (NDP), a left-wing party that advocates for social democracy and progressive policies.
Others are the Bloc Québécois, a federal political party that promotes Quebec nationalism and advocates for the interests of Quebecers; and the Green Party of Canada, which focuses on environmental issues and sustainability, advocating for green policies and practices, among others. These are among the big parties which are a must-have in every general election. Due to being corruption proof, I have never heard of any electoral corruption case. I tried to research and got none whatsoever. So why is there no corruption in Canada’s elections?
There are many answers, among which is the fact that in Canada, as opposed to Africa, politics isn’t a moneymaking endeavour. People run for political positions to serve people, and not to serve themselves and their families. Second, no politician, even though there can be a few, stays in a position for a long. Finally, no party has ever won more than 50 percent in four decades. Therefore, in Canada, neither party nor its leader has ever dreamt of winning with a bigger percentage as we recently saw in Tanzania where the re-elected president, despite a bloodbath, miraculously ‘won’ with 98 percent!