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Is Canada really a democracy? Do the citizens really control what is happening in this country? Who really controls the levers of power?

After careful consideration of our political structure, never mind the influence of our economic elites, below are 10 reasons why I feel that Canada is not a democracy.

1. Queen: We still have the remnants of a British colony as Queen Elizabeth II is still our unelected head of state.

2. Governor general: The governor general is unelected.

3. Prime minister: The prime minister is not directly elected by all the voting public.

4. Supreme Court: The Supreme Court and all lower courts are completely unelected and/or do not have any sort of open and transparent selection process.

5. Senate: The Senate is unelected.

6. Premiers: All the provincial premiers and territorial leaders are not directly elected by all the voting public.

7. Voting: There is no mandatory voting in Canada. Voter turnout is especially low in local elections.

8. Representation: There is no proportional representation in Canada which means a majority government can be formed with a minority of the vote under our first past the post system.

9. Referendum and recall: Referendum and recall initiatives are next to impossible to pass by the citizens.

10. Opposition: Opposition MPs and backbenchers have little or no power in our political system where power is concentrated with the prime minister.

There you go! Here are 10 reasons why I feel that Canada is not a democracy.

To make matters worse, federal political parties no longer receive financial subsidies from the Canadian government. This essentially means that big money, corporate, and special interests are now officially a major part of the political process.