Magna Carta and the Principle of Free Elections
Although the Canadian electoral system is governed by laws passed by the federal Parliament and the legislature of each province, it is based on a practice that began nearly 800 years ago in England. In 1215, the Magna Carta stated that the King no longer had the right to summon his own advisors to sit in what is now called the House of Commons. Instead, he had to issue what today are called writs of election, and to summon to the House only those people who, according to the returned writs, won the most votes in elections held in each district. That principle of free elections first established in the Magna Carta was brought by the British to Canada, where federal and provincial elections today are still organized around the “dropping” and return of separate writs of election for each district.
Although the Canadian electoral system is governed by laws passed by the federal Parliament and the legislature of each province, it is based on a practice that began nearly 800 years ago in England. In 1215, the Magna Carta stated that the King no longer had the right to summon his own advisors to sit in what is now called the House of Commons. Instead, he had to issue what today are called writs of election, and to summon to the House only those people who, according to the returned writs, won the most votes in elections held in each district. That principle of free elections first established in the Magna Carta was brought by the British to Canada, where federal and provincial elections today are still organized around the “dropping” and return of separate writs of election for each district.