Here's my thoughts on democracy and Canada; It was during the election of about 2000, and it was Chretien Vs. Stockwell Day. Day was pushing for referendums on several issues and claiming that the Canadian people wanted more say in the democratic process. Chretien went on National TV and stated that Canadians didn't want that, that they wanted a leader to make their decisions for them, he spoke in such condescending terms toward us that it was shocking. I expected an outrage...or least a backlash against Chretien. The media interviewed several people and the overwhelming sentiment was that Day was out of line for forcing people to go out and vote on independent issues and that Chretien was right...people interviewed all sided with Chretien and said "no, we elect a leader to make our decisions for us" end of story. Chretien won the election. At the time, I was more of an independent voter and didn't really care that we were again a Liberal gov't, but i was absolutely disgusted that Canadians were so weak minded and lazy that they would willingly leave every decision to one person.
I know it's anecdotal, but this taught me a lot about Canadians. Democracy requires effort, effort to think and effort to act. Canadians have given away their democracy because it was simply the easier route. Twenty years on and we don't even question censorship, forced speech, surveillance, removal of firearms or any other dictatorial measures put in place by Trudeau.