Civics Test

[CrazyCanuck89]

I find your average Canadian knows very little about our country. 

The division of powers between Federal and provincial/territorial governments.

The three branches of government 

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Our Constitution.

My question is, should Canadians have to take a civics test to vote?

[ExFlyer]

No,.

When they vote, it is for very different circumstances.

Municipal, for local government .

Provincial, for regional government.

Federal, for national government.

The division of authority amongst those levels of government have been been negotiated.

I am very sure every Canadian is fully aware of that.

We are not American where they vote for money, commissioners, sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys, etc etc. They truly need a civics course to teach them of all the elected officials in all the elected position within their innumerable levels of government are and what they are about.

Canadians have, by comparison to the American governmental systems,  have lived by the kiss principle.

[Five of swords]

33 minutes ago, CrazyCanuck89 said:

I find your average Canadian knows very little about our country. 

The division of powers between Federal and provincial/territorial governments.

The three branches of government 

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Our Constitution.

My question is, should Canadians have to take a civics test to vote?

What's worse is that none of this actually matters, because it is only what thr country tells us how it works. The reality is very different. Voting doesn't actually matter, for example. 

[herbie]

So dob't vote. Then you can ensure it doesn't matter.

[PIK]

Canada is a fake country with no traditions or core identity,as Trudeau said. And he was going to build the 1st postnational state. Which IMO is a UN motel.

[Aristides]

Civics tests should definitely be given in schools. Immigrants have to take them to get citizenship so why not native born Canadians?

[Five of swords]

16 hours ago, herbie said:

So dob't vote. Then you can ensure it doesn't matter.

Of course I don't vote. Why bother?

[August1991]

18 hours ago, ExFlyer said:

No,.

....

I agree with ExFlyer. People should not have to pass a civics test to have the right to vote.

However, I have a different idea.

I think we should abolish payroll tax deductions (an invention of Milton Friedman in the 1940s - Google it) and instead, we should pay our taxes on the same day we vote.

You write a cheque (slide a debit card) and then you vote.

=====

I am terrified that about 30% of Canadian voters pay no federal income tax whatsoever. They have no skin in the game. For these people, policy discussions of debt, taxes are irrelevant. They will always vote for more government spending.

 

[ExFlyer]

1 hour ago, August1991 said:

I agree with ExFlyer. People should not have to pass a civics test to have the right to vote.

However, I have a different idea.

I think we should abolish payroll tax deductions (an invention of Milton Friedman in the 1940s - Google it) and instead, we should pay our taxes on the same day we vote.

You write a cheque (slide a debit card) and then you vote.

=====

I am terrified that about 30% of Canadian voters pay no federal income tax whatsoever. They have no skin in the game. For these people, policy discussions of debt, taxes are irrelevant. They will always vote for more government spending.

 

I am assuming(?)that you think it is the wealthy that skirt the taxes when in fact it is not them but the lower income folks that pay no taxes. It is primarily low income people that pay no taxes. Yes, some very rich can reduce their taxes to almost nothing but, "more than two-thirds (68.6 per cent) of individuals with income below $30,000 didn't pay any personal income taxes—that's more than 8.8 million Canadians. Many low-income Canadians do not pay any personal income taxes because their tax credits and deductions are greater than the amount of taxes owed" Fraser Institute.

Edited August 7, 2024 by ExFlyer

[herbie]

4 hours ago, August1991 said:

I am terrified that about 30% of Canadian voters pay no federal income tax whatsoever.

So the poor should not vote? Revert to the Magna Carta where only the Lords get too vote, not the peasants?

And I offer the opposite, an incentive to vote. If you do vote, you get a $100 tax credit.

Edited August 7, 2024 by herbie

[eyeball]

On 8/6/2024 at 1:23 PM, CrazyCanuck89 said:

My question is, should Canadians have to take a civics test to vote?

I'd rather see people take an issues comprehension test instead of just testing their ability to memorize something.

Something like this pethaps

The fill-in-blank-here issues are

1. Important. 🤔

2. Not important. 😐

3. Woke. 🤣

 

[taxme]

On 8/6/2024 at 1:23 PM, CrazyCanuck89 said:

I find your average Canadian knows very little about our country. 

The division of powers between Federal and provincial/territorial governments.

The three branches of government 

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Our Constitution.

My question is, should Canadians have to take a civics test to vote?

Just the stupid leftist liberal and the NDP communists people need to take a civics test. Just my opinion. 

[blackbird]

On 8/6/2024 at 1:23 PM, CrazyCanuck89 said:

I find your average Canadian knows very little about our country. 

The division of powers between Federal and provincial/territorial governments.

The three branches of government 

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Our Constitution.

My question is, should Canadians have to take a civics test to vote?

If one has spent a lot of time reading up about these subjects, they can get a fairly good idea about them.

But I believe it's true the average Canadian knows very little about these this subject.

I think it is fair criticism that the Charter of Rights is not applied to everyone fairly.  In some cases, one must have a lot of money to hire a lawyer and take something to court and even then they might loses.  It also might take years to get an answer.

I don't know if a civics test is the right way to go.  It might be difficult or impossible to have a fair test or questions.

 

Edited August 8, 2024 by blackbird

[CdnFox]

16 hours ago, Five of swords said:

Of course I don't vote. Why bother?

Good good. the last thing we need is your kind of thinking being represented anywhere. 

[WestCanMan]

On 8/6/2024 at 1:23 PM, CrazyCanuck89 said:

My question is, should Canadians have to take a civics test to vote?

What difference does it make if a person understands the inner workings and various levels/branches of the gov't?

Isn't an understanding of domestic and foreign issues, and of the various candidates and their platforms and their personal track record far more important than an understanding of civics when it comes time to vote? 

If you know that Trudeau funnelled gov't money to his family through the WE charity, and that he created the DPA law to get SNC's fat outta the fire and that SNC has a court-documented history of bribing Canadians in gov't to get gov't contracts, isn't that more important than understanding how Senators are appointed and what they do? 

An understanding of civics is critical if you want to run for gov't, but I don't think it is even a big deal for voters. I'd prefer an informed electorate over one that's highly informed about civics but still ends up voting for la turd. 

[Five of swords]

8 hours ago, CdnFox said:

Good good. the last thing we need is your kind of thinking being represented anywhere. 

Don't worry. It isn't legal for my views to be represented.

[CdnFox]

3 hours ago, Five of swords said:

Don't worry. It isn't legal for my views to be represented.

well there you go

[August1991]

On 8/8/2024 at 3:24 PM, WestCanMan said:

What difference does it make if a person understands the inner workings and various levels/branches of the gov't?

,,,,,

We select politicians the same way we choose a dentist: we want someone to act on our behalf.

Unfortunately, this is a dentist for everyone. And about 1/3 of the people get free dental.

The incentives are completely misaligned.

[WestCanMan]

6 minutes ago, August1991 said:

We select politicians the same way we choose a dentist: we want someone to act on our behalf.

Unfortunately, this is a dentist for everyone. And about 1/3 of the people get free dental.

The incentives are completely misaligned.

So how does a civics lesson help us understand which dentists will work for everyone? 

Can you explain how 'the fact that Trudeau is a serial ethics-violator of the lowest order doesn't mean that he's not the best guy to vote for' with a civics lesson?  

August, FYI, people who violate your trust should never be trusted again. Ever. 

[August1991]

4 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

So how does a civics lesson help us understand which dentists will work for everyone?

...

WestCanMan, it's hard to find a dentist who will work for me alone - and not the dentist's pocketbook.

Edited August 9, 2024 by August1991

[WestCanMan]

39 minutes ago, August1991 said:

WestCanMan, it's hard to find a dentist who will work for me alone - and not the dentist's pocketbook.

Let's not pretend that politicians are noble. People who seek power rarely are. 

Our job as voters, sadly, is usually just to choose the lesser of two evils. 

Eg., I know that Trump has his serious character flaws. I'd never trust him around my daughter or my wife if I doubted her integrity at all. But I think that his interests align with America's and he has a proven track record of pushing America's agenda fwd. That's all you can ask of any politician. 

Trudeau also has character flaws, but his interests don't align with Canada's. He sold this country out to big Pharma and severely denigrated Canadians at every chance. No civic lesson could ever convince me that he's worth even 1 vote from a  single Canadian. 

[Old Guy]

On 8/7/2024 at 7:59 AM, August1991 said:

I am terrified that about 30% of Canadian voters pay no federal income tax whatsoever.

Can you give a link to that information.  The implication to your post is that people on the bottom of the income scale will always vote for more services but that the people who pay taxes are more likely to say enough already. But ask yourself in your experience have you met many people who willing turn down a government  hand out.

[Old Guy]

On 8/9/2024 at 10:44 AM, WestCanMan said:

I know that Trump has his serious character flaws. I'd never trust him around my daughter or my wife if I doubted her integrity at all. But I think that his interests align with America's and he has a proven track record of pushing America's agenda fwd. That's all you can ask of any politician. 

Could you explain how Trumps interest align with Americas? And why you think he has a proven track record of pushing America's agenda forward. BTW I agree with you about Trudeau but I'm curious why you hide your identity behind his face?

 

 

 

 

t

[WestCanMan]

On 9/6/2024 at 7:59 PM, Old Guy said:

Could you explain how Trumps interest align with Americas?

He's heavily invested in America. His policies helped the American economy at the expense of other countries. He values the lives of American military members. His border policies protect jobs and housing for low-income Americans. 

Quote

And why you think he has a proven track record of pushing America's agenda forward.

He has already served a term as president. Why don't you look at how wages, inflation and take-home pay for Americans went under Trump? Look at how many US servicemen died when he was POTUS. How many wars he started. Look at his effect on global peace. Look at how many wars there are in the ME and Europe now vs then. 

You'd be an id10t if you thought things improved in 2021.

Quote

BTW I agree with you about Trudeau but I'm curious why you hide your identity behind his face?

What do you mean by "I hide my identity behind Trump's face"? 

[CdnFox]

4 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

 

What do you mean by "I hide my identity behind Trump's face"? 

I think he means why is your avatar trudeau? You're identity is hidden behind a picture of trudeau if you will.