Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Structually and legally, it would be far easier for an autocrat to take over Canada's federal government than the U.S. What prevents it from happening is political norms and a Canadian electorate that will not (so far) tolerate a leader breaching those norms.
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I would say it's actually a lot harder in Canada.
In Canada you need a majority of MPs who support a PM who is acting like an autocrat.
It takes very few to cross the floor, force a vote of non confidence, force an election or form government with the opposition.
Failing that, technically the senate can vote down anything passed through the House, and since they are lifetime appointments, they aren't necessarily beholden to the PM.
So for a PM to go the Trump route, they need a majority of MPs to back them, and they would likely need to stuff the Senate with cronies.
The US president has enormous power via executive order, and has Veto power, so even if congress gets off their duffs to stop him, he can just Veto whatever they vote for, and it takes I think a 2/3 majority to overturn a Veto. You need to control way fewer seats/people to do what Trump is doing vs what it would take in Canada.