Anatomy of an Election: Virtual Book Launch

Irwin Law is proud to publish Anatomy of an Election:
Canada’s Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law.

Elections are the high point of democracy. They provide scheduled opportunities for the people at large to have a participatory voice in their own government. They enable adult citizens to judge those who have governed them recently, to select those whom they want to govern them in the near future, and to give renewed direction to their own country. Contrary to impressions generated by the media, it is a reality of democracy that elections are neither solely political events nor personality contests. In fact, elections are the ultimate blend of constitutionalism, politics, public law, and public policy.

Anatomy of an Election takes a comprehensive and interdisciplinary look at Canada’s 2019 federal election as an example of a democratic election. This book is unique in its explanation of elections and electioneering. It sets the scene by enumerating the foundational elements of Canada’s electoral system, focusing on the constitutional principles, the legislation, and the major court judgments. It then traces the flow of political legal events since 2015 that have led to the forty-third general election. Most importantly, this text provides a day-by-day diary that records the most important political and legal events throughout the campaign. Anatomy of an Election does not favour any party or candidate and is designed to inform Canadian citizens about the electoral process and its fundamental importance in the public life of the country.

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“I have a friend who never buys a lottery ticket. He says he won the lottery of life the day he was born in Canada. He doesn’t need to hit a million-dollar jackpot to consider himself lucky. Instead of buying lottery tickets, he votes. That’s how he ensures the stability of the life he has been able to build in a place that protects the rule of law and values human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and political freedom. His one vote buys all of that. When I hear people say they don’t vote because it’s pointless or because one vote doesn’t matter, I think of my friend. He’s a Canadian who understands we all have a role to play in preserving what we have inherited.

Gregory Tardi has also figured it out. His diary of the 2019 federal election examines how it all works. Our system isn’t magical. It’s based on principles established years ago that we constantly try to sharpen and improve upon. No one seems to know who coined the expression, ‘Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.’ But I think that’s wrong. In a democracy we don’t accept everything just because we’re told to. It is better to see how things are made. It’s especially valuable to see how elections are made.”

Peter Mansbridge, from the Foreword

Introduction by Gregory Tardi

Reading from Anatomy of an Election

Closing Remarks

Contents

PrefaceThe Canadian Electoral System in a Capsule
Part OneThe 42nd Parliament as Prelude
Part TwoThe Campaign for the 43rd Federal General Election
Part ThreeThe 43rd Federal General Election
Part FourElection Results
Part FiveIntroduction to the 43rd Parliament of Canada
PostscriptLessons Learned

Preview Pages

About Gregory Tardi

Gregory Tardi, BCL, LLB, DJur, is a member of the Barreau du Québec. After an initial period in private practice in his father’s law firm in Montreal, he served in the Public Service of Canada. He worked in a variety of departments, including the Privy Council Office and the Department of Justice. His long experience as legal counsel at Elections Canada and as senior parliamentary counsel at the House of Commons led him to formulate his theory of political law. This is a novel way of uniting the various legal aspects of government into a single subject matter; of focusing on the role of law in democratic governing, in contrast to the role of policy and politics; and of conceptualizing the accountability of all public officials to law. In this conceptual framework, the legal aspects of electioneering play a central role. Mr Tardi has taught at Carleton University, McGill University, and Osgoode Hall Law School. He is the author of The Legal Framework of Government, The Law of Democratic Governing, and The Theory and Practice of Political Law, as well as a number of articles. He is the executive editor of the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law | Revue de droit parlementaire et politique.

Downloadable Excerpts

Graphic showing bibliographic information for Anatomy of an Election: Canada's Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law by Gregory Tardi.
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "The centrality of tax-cutting to a campaign is worth examining. Undeniably, the prospect of a tax reduction is an alluring prospect for many electors. However, we may be allowed to wonder whether, if this type of voter-attraction becomes one of the centrepieces of a platform or of a campaign, such a strategy can become counter-productive."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "Democracy is an aspirational political philosophy sustained by constitutionalism and rule of law components. Believers in Democracy have (or ought in principle to have) a wide horizon and a vision of society. Most definitely, Democracy is both broader than, and different from, prosperity alone."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "Moreover, Democracy is linked to the common good. Prosperity focuses on individual, or at most family, prosperity. A political party that concentrates its platform on creating prosperity portrays Democracy merely as the handmaid or the servant of economy. That is a slanted and incomplete view of society."
Graphic showing bibliographic information for Anatomy of an Election: Canada's Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law by Gregory Tardi.
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "The initial signs appeared that the primary campaign issue, the so-called ballot-box issue, would be a combination of energy, ecology, and global warming —  climate change."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "Domestically, ever increasing attention was being paid to carbon extraction, the resultingly necessary pipelines to get the carbon fuel to market, the pricing and taxation of fuels so as to achieve a regime of polluter pay, along with the impact of the use of fuels on global warming and climate change."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "On a global level, it was becoming clear that measures taken until now to save the environment, indeed the planet, from overutilization of fossil fuels was a new rallying cry not only for forward-looking progressives but also for those in the more cautious and conservative business community who had long-term vision."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: ". . . At this point in the campaign, this combination of issues was gaining ground on every other."
Graphic showing bibliographic information for Anatomy of an Election: Canada's Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law by Gregory Tardi.
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "While several of the party leaders were focusing on the evolving ballot box question, namely the environment, the Conservative leader, Mr Scheer, sought to renew attention on the SNC-Lavalin scandal. He did so in a manner that is of particular interest in the context of this study, namely by proposing legislation."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "He promoted the idea of a No More Cover-Ups Act, along with the establishment of a judicial inquiry to look into the SNC matter, based on the notion that there were facts in addition to what was already known and that those facts would shed light on the perfidy of Mr Trudeau. There was little explanation of what would be the contents of the legislation."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "It was likely that such an Act would in some manner change the regime of the confidentiality of Cabinet documents and discussion by giving the RCMP access to such information. The response to this legislative proposal was less than overwhelming."
Graphic showing bibliographic information for Anatomy of an Election: Canada's Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law by Gregory Tardi.
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "In an election campaign of a truly democratic nature, what each political party seeks to put forward is its global vision for the future of the country, for the evolution of society. Such a future rests largely, though not exclusively, on the rule of law."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "While it would be unrealistic to expect party leaders to have firm positions on all elements and aspects of their legal program, legislation, and litigation, it is a requirement of democracy that party leaders be forthright in explaining the major elements of their platform regarding matters of law."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "Deliberately vague, prevaricating, or, worse yet, misleading statements are unacceptable because they lead to an uninformed electorate. That is contrary to the requirements set out on numerous occasions by the Supreme Court of Canada. Regrettably, this requirement is not often met. Perhaps we might even say that it is often not met."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "Playing games with the truth about one’s party’s position on issues of major legal significance is not sound politics. More to the point, it is not democratic."
Graphic showing bibliographic information for Anatomy of an Election: Canada's Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law by Gregory Tardi.
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "While the press was focused on whether anyone had scored a political win, the harder question was whether anything said in the debate advanced the state of Canadian law in the proper direction."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "A number of issues of a legal nature that would be of interest in the 43rd Parliament emerged. Messrs Trudeau and Scheer discussed the SNC-Lavalin scandal, but on this occasion, the outcome was no clearer than in earlier discussions."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "There was talk of an issue that was of international origin: the idea that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should be incorporated into Canadian law."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "The next was more domestic and constitutional: that the federal government should exercise respect for the province, but that in return, the provinces ought to exercise respect vis-à-vis the federal authority. This was hardly earth-shattering."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states:The possible flashpoint of federal–provincial relations related to litigation: should any colouration of federal government intervene in the judicial debate of Québec’s legislation on laicity?"
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. It states: "Lastly, there was discussion of whether the federal government should appeal the judgment then recently issued by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal regarding the treatment of Indigenous children."
Graphic showing bibliographic information for Anatomy of an Election: Canada's Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law by Gregory Tardi.
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. This excerpt is from the foreword by Peter Mansbridge. It states: "Democracy is a necessarily imperfect form of government. That’s because it is based on imperfect voters electing imperfect politicians who then do imperfect work."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. This excerpt is from the foreword by Peter Mansbridge. It states: "There are those who might say that’s a problem. I’d say it’s humanity at its best, people striving to make life better not just for themselves, not just for their children, not just for their neighbours but also for people they don’t even know with whom they share only one thing — a country. An election is the beating pulse of a democracy."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. This excerpt is from the foreword by Peter Mansbridge. It states: "I have a friend who never buys a lottery ticket. He says he won the lottery of life the day he was born in Canada. . . . Instead of buying lottery tickets, he votes. That’s how he ensures the stability of the life he has been able to build in a place that protects the rule of law and values human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and political freedom. His one vote buys all of that."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. This excerpt is from the foreword by Peter Mansbridge. It states: "When I hear people say they don’t vote because it’s pointless or because one vote doesn’t matter, I think of my friend. He’s a Canadian who understands we all have a role to play in preserving what we have inherited. Gregory Tardi has also figured it out. His diary of the 2019 federal election examines how it all works."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. This excerpt is from the foreword by Peter Mansbridge. It states: "No one seems to know who coined the expression, “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” But I think that’s wrong. In a democracy we don’t accept everything just because we’re told to. It is better to see how things are made. It’s especially valuable to see how elections are made."
Excerpt from Anatomy of an Election by Gregory Tardi. This excerpt is from the foreword by Peter Mansbridge. It states: "Democracy is not fragile in Canada. It is, in fact, hardy and robust. But it would be a mistake to think it is impervious to decay. Democracy is so precious we all have a duty to protect it."

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