# Canadian Counties? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665 "2010-01-27T18:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/21 "2010-01-28T04:14:36Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > Quebec is also divided into administrative regions, which are between the MRC level and the province level. As well, many places (mostly cities, but also areas with special status) are not actually part of a MRC. [Here is a list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regional_county_municipalities_and_equivalent_territories_in_Quebec). I started reading that wiki before posting, and found it confusing enough that I figured I’d just stick to the MRCs, which most directly approximate the old counties…I think. Except for the parts where they don’t. I also could have sworn there were 16 administrative regions, not 17, but I’m a long way away from my Level 3 Geography class! Looking at the list, though, they all look correct to me! ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/22 "2010-01-28T06:27:49Z")
> [@AHarris](#): > > No, at least in the GVRD, except for one of the the members, each representative is chosen by the city council (and is a member of the council or the mayor). > > The last member is elected every 3 years by people living in miscellaneous areas within the district (ie the university grounds and other unincorporated areas). Interesting, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/23 "2010-01-28T06:48:00Z")
It may be worthwhile to point out to the OP that our counties (etc.) in Canada have nothing at all to do with federal or provincial elections, as they seem to in the US. Canadian counties are, as has been said, administered in different ways by the provinces, but they don’t tend to play a role in elections (unless we’re electing a county government). Instead, Canada uses “ridings,” which may mirror the local county’s boundaries, but don’t need to. Ridings are like electoral districts; each elects a representative to Parliament or to a provincial legislature. What the county voters say doesn’t matter; what matters is that the riding’s voters say something. Further, county officials play no role in our elections–those are overseen by a neutral federal body in the case of a federal election (Elections Canada), or by a similar body at the provincial level. Here in Alberta, county governments look after local affairs for rural areas in the county, but don’t do much else. They certainly play no role in elections. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/24 "2010-01-28T12:30:05Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yes, provinces are subdivided into counties. See [Ontario](http://www.ontarioguide.com/counties/) here. As **Hypnogogic Jerk** points out, it’s not possible to generalize. Some provinces have counties, others do not. Saskatchewan, for example, does not have counties. We have rural municipalities. Since I don’t know what counties do in the US, I’m not sure if they are equivalent, for the purposes of the OP. As **Spoons** notes, subdivisions such as counties, rural municipalities, and other municipalities do not have any role in elections in Canada, at either the federal or provincial level. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/25 "2010-01-28T13:19:19Z")
The counties in Ontario, for example, were administrative subdivisions; but I don’t recall any election for any governments. You may live in a rural municipality in some provinces, which is basically a few small towns and the farmland surrounding them for a few miles; those would have elections for mayor and councillors. School boards usually elected at the same time. Never ever heard of an election for a county official. However, Canadians tend to not elect every official in sight; vote for a member of parliament, member of provincial parliament/legislature - those elections happen at random intervals, sort of like the government of Italy in slow motion. Vote for rural or urban municipal councillor(s) and mayor, and local school board; that happens every 2 or 3 years depending on province. Electing the district attorney, the sherrif and a thousand other individuals in 3 or 4 levels of government is held up as an example of how messed up the American system is. When we want to ridicule the American system, we used to say they elected the dog-catcher too. Now we can just chuckle and say “hanging chad”. (Sometimes that’s not funny). When there are several pages of people on the ballot, how can even an informed person know who is capable in every race and who to hold accountable when everyone has their oen conflicting mandate? A Canadian federal election consists of going into a booth and selecting one (1!!) member of parliament with a pencil on a paper ballot. Most I’ve seen is about 8 people on the ballot, but that’s because the federal parties in the interests of self preservation have made it very expensive and difficult to be a marginal candidate. (Thousands to register a candidacy and lose it if you don’t get a decent amount of the vote.) Regardless, except where the vote is very very close, the results are tabulated within a few hours. We have had quite a few cases where the vote has been within a few votes in a riding; but every vote is tabulated and there’s rarely any acrimony over allowing or disallowing ballots - it’s usually either an X in the circle or not. Municipal elections are the same except some places don’t have “wards” so all councillors are elected at large - “pick 7 of the following 20 candidates”. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/26 "2010-01-28T14:00:28Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > However, Canadians tend to not elect every official in sight; vote for a member of parliament, member of provincial parliament/legislature - those elections happen at random intervals, sort of like the government of Italy in slow motion. Vote for rural or urban municipal councillor(s) and mayor, and local school board; that happens every 2 or 3 years depending on province. It’s similar in Australia. Typically, every 3 to 4 years a voter will vote in three elections (all on different days): (1) a federal election, voting for one member of the lower house, and for a team of senators. (2) a state election, voting for one member of the lower house (except in Tasmania, where they have multi-member electorates), and for one or more members of the upper house (except in Queensland, where there’s no upper house). (3) a local government election, voting for councillors and for mayor or shire president. In the Australian Capital Territory, (2) and (3) are combined, since the territory government carries out both state and localk government functions (similar to Washington DC). And, returning to the OP, most of Australia is divided into counties, but they are only relevant as cadastral divisions, i.e., for defining land boundaries. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/27 "2010-01-28T14:54:48Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Don’t forget the special case of the Village of Floral Park, which is half in one county(Nassau), and half in a borough(Queens), hich makes it a village that is partially in a city. Kinda like NYC tried to reproduce by budding, but failed. Farmingdale, NY is also a split entity, partly in Nassau County and in Suffolk County. There’s even a building (not sure if it’s an apartment or a co-op) where part is in one county, the rest in the other. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/28 "2010-01-28T15:10:11Z")
For those in Oz, NB, &c who might not have had the experience, here in Virginia local counties and cities not only play a role in determining where property and marriages get registered, but play an important regulatory role as well - believe it or not, a few years ago Fairfax County was actually thinking about officially disobeying the (US) Federal “No Child Left Behind” education reform law such that they would lose some federal dollars but wouldn’t face criminal charges or anything like that. Regulations might vary from place to place so one might potentially face jail time for doing something in one county that was perfectly legal in another. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/29 "2010-01-28T15:29:19Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > (Thousands to register a candidacy and lose it if you don’t get a decent amount of the vote.) The deposit is only $1,000, actually, as per s. [67(4)](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/E-2.01/20100128/page-4.html?rp2=HOME&rp3=SI&rp4=all&rp5=elections&rp9=cs&rp10=L&rp13=50#codese:67-ss:_4_) of the _Canada Elections Act_. The entire deposit is returned to the candidate after the election, provided the candidate files all of the financial reports required by the Act. See [s. 468(2)](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/E-2.01/20100128/page-10.html?rp2=HOME&rp3=SI&rp4=all&rp5=elections&rp9=cs&rp10=L&rp13=50#codese:468) of the Act. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/30 "2010-01-28T16:43:23Z")
Here is a list of Alberta’s municipal districts, of which many are counties. > **[List of municipal districts in Alberta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alberta_municipal_districts)** > > A municipal district (MD) is the most common form of all rural municipality statuses used in the Canadian province of Alberta. Alberta's municipal districts, most of which are branded as a county (e.g. Yellowhead County, County of Newell, etc.), are predominantly rural areas that may include either farmland, Crown land or a combination of both depending on their geographic location. They may also include country residential subdivisions and unincorporated communities, some of which are recogni... ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/31 "2010-01-28T18:43:55Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > You may live in a rural municipality in some provinces, which is basically a few small towns and the farmland surrounding them for a few miles; those would have elections for mayor and councillors. Not exactly, at least in Saskatchewan. Generally rural municipalities are entirely rural, and small towns will be independent municipalities in their own right. Unless by “small town” you mean really tiny hamlets - five houses and a church at the corner where there used to be a grain elevator and country general store type things. For example, the farm I grew up on is in the RM of Aberdeen which geographically contains the Town of Aberdeen (pop ~500), but the town has its own independent municipal government. There are a couple of minuscule villages within the RM that are not separate municipalities, but even in Saskatchewan no one would call them small towns, and we have really low standards for calling clusters of buildings towns. The title of the leader of an RM in Saskatchewan is Reeve, not Mayor, if anyone cares. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/32 "2010-01-28T19:14:28Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > Alberta has counties, while its neighbour, BC, does not. It has regional districts. This level of government is relatively weak, I would say. Are there elections on the regional level in the Greater Vancouver Regional District or the Capital Regional District? Alberta has a real hodge-podge of a system. There’s counties, municipal districts (functionally the same as counties), “special areas”, independent districts (the national parks) and regional municipalities. Layered over top of those are the regional planning committees, which are centred around major cities and hold the real power. ---
**Author:** ![Iteach5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bcef8e/32.png) [@Iteach5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteach5th)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/33 "2010-01-28T22:31:32Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Don’t forget the special case of the Village of Floral Park, which is half in one county(Nassau), and half in a borough(Queens), hich makes it a village that is partially in a city. Kinda like NYC tried to reproduce by budding, but failed. The Incorporated Village of Floral Park lies totaly in Nassau County. Floral Park, Queens is not a village, rather it’s a neighborhood that calls itself Floral Park. The Incorporated Village however, is split by 2 towns. The Town of Hempstead and the Town of North Hempstead. The size of the Incorporated Village of Floral Park is approximately 1 square mile. I know because I live there.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Iteach5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bcef8e/32.png) [@Iteach5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteach5th)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/34 "2010-01-28T22:34:39Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Farmingdale, NY is also a split entity, partly in Nassau County and in Suffolk County. There’s even a building (not sure if it’s an apartment or a co-op) where part is in one county, the rest in the other. Farmingdale is entirely in Nassau County. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/35 "2010-01-28T22:54:01Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The deposit is only $1,000, actually, as per s. [67(4)](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/E-2.01/20100128/page-4.html?rp2=HOME&rp3=SI&rp4=all&rp5=elections&rp9=cs&rp10=L&rp13=50#codese:67-ss:_4_) of the _Canada Elections Act_. > > The entire deposit is returned to the candidate after the election, provided the candidate files all of the financial reports required by the Act. See [s. 468(2)](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/E-2.01/20100128/page-10.html?rp2=HOME&rp3=SI&rp4=all&rp5=elections&rp9=cs&rp10=L&rp13=50#codese:468) of the Act. Interesting, thanks. I’m a little behind on my “Chretien the Dictator” news: > [@](#): > > On March 10, 1999, the Ontario Court (General Division) in an action brought by Miguel Figueroa, the leader of the Communist Party of Canada, ruled unconstitutional certain provisions of the Canada Elections Act. > > The Court found that requiring candidates to deposit $1 000 as part of their nomination is a limitation of the right to become a candidate, as provided in section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court held that the reimbursement of one half of the deposit if a candidate obtains 15 percent of valid votes is unconstitutional, but that the $1 000 deposit can be left in place if it becomes fully refundable upon compliance with the election financing reporting requirements. Paragraph 84(3)(b) of the Canada Elections Act is, therefore, of no force and effect. > > The Court also ruled that the automatic deregistration and requirement to liquidate assets of political parties that did not nominate 50 candidates contravenes section 3 of the Charter. The Court held that a party that runs two candidates and becomes registered is able to issue tax receipts and to receive unspent funds from a candidate. The Court made it clear, however, that the 50-candidate threshold does not change for the purposes of a party’s entitlement to broadcasting time and the reimbursement of election expenses. > > On April 9, 1999, the federal government served notice that it will appeal parts of the rulings, but not those relating to the liquidation of assets after automatic deregistration, or the forfeiture of part of the nomination deposit. Chretien tried to effectively dissolve all but the major parties and seize their assets, conveniently getting rid of those pesky Marxists and Trotskyites. The courts disagreed. Perhaps he was motivated by the Rhino Party, that promised such things as “scratch-and-win unemployment insurance cheques” and an end to winter. Of course, Chretien is the one who personally choked a demonstrator who as too noisy, after which the mounties jumped the guy and charged him with assault. Who says Canadian politics isn’t interesting. Yeah, we don’t elect Senators in Canada. Instead, they hold something similar to an election, basically entitled “How much money did you raise for the ruling party and how many close personal friends of the prime minister do you know”? The winner gets a job for life. AFAIK, none of the provinces has an upper chamber. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/36 "2010-01-29T10:13:05Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Interesting, thanks. I’m a little behind on my “Chretien the Dictator” news: > … > Chretien tried to effectively dissolve all but the major parties and seize their assets, conveniently getting rid of those pesky Marxists and Trotskyites. Do you have some, you know, facts, to support that assertion? The law in question was passed in 1970, when Parliament decided that to qualify for public funding, a party had to have at least 50 candidates running in the general election. If a party failed to do that, it got de-listed as a federal party and was dissolved. 1. During the first Trudeau government. With general support from the Opposition parties at that time. Now, maybe, Jean Chrétien as a junior minister was so secretly powerful because of the pix he had of Trudeau in bed with René Lévesque that he was able to compel Trudeau to get the bill passed, so that that 23 years later, when Chrétien [del]seized dictatorial power in a coup d’état[/del] was elected Prime Minister he could finally dissolve the dreaded Communist party … but somehow, I rather doubt it. I think the [del]propaganda put out by Dictator-for-Life Chrétien[/del] actual facts are a bit more mundane. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the opening of the Berlin Wall, and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in the late 80s and early 90s, the Communist Party of Canada hit the skids, losing what little support they had up to that point. As a result, in the 1993 federal election, they failed to field the necessary 50 candidates. The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, a post appointed by the House of Commons, not the Cabinet, duly noted this fact and de-listed them, as he was required to do by the provisions _Canada Elections Act_, enacted in 1970. So, what other parties are you asserting that Prime Minister Chrétien closed down? Because so far, you haven’t even pointed to one. > [@md2000](#): > > The winner gets a job for life. Your information is incorrect and badly out-of-date. Senators are appointed until age 75. The age limit was instituted in 1965. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/37 "2010-01-29T12:30:42Z")
I am a Canadian who is woefully uneducated about municipality-level political structures. I grew up in the City of Guelph – a ‘separated municipality’ within Wellington County. I currently live just outside city limits in the Township of Guelph-Eramosa. Guelph (the city) is divided into wards and elects its own city council and generally pretends the west of Wellington County doesn’t exist. I have no idea what the process is for electing a “city council” equivalent for the township. It doesn’t seem particularly useful – even with Rockwood there can’t be more than 5000 of us. Or is a council elected county-wide for the entire area? (The non-Guelph portion of the county is about 40,000 people, I believe.) How does the process work in non-county places like Waterloo or Peel? Both regions are made up of several cities and rural areas; do they elect third-level representatives for individual cities or entire regions? Both are “regional municipalities” and share things like emergency services. Yeah, it’s confusing… but these are things I should probably know, being a resident and all. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/38 "2010-01-29T19:18:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Senators are appointed until age 75. Easily supportable: the _Constitution Act 1867_, s. 29(2). I enjoyed studying constitutional law—can you tell? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/39 "2010-01-29T20:59:30Z")
> [@Baffle](#): > > I am a Canadian who is woefully uneducated about municipality-level political structures… > > How does the process work in non-county places like Waterloo or Peel? Both regions are made up of several cities and rural areas; do they elect third-level representatives for individual cities or entire regions? Both are “regional municipalities” and share things like emergency services. In Whitby, at least, there were regional councillors and town councillors. I think. [Here’s an overview from Durham Region](http://www.region.durham.on.ca/default.asp?nr=/corpoverview/aboutregion.htm&setFooter=/includes/corpFooter.inc). ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665/40 "2010-01-29T23:19:06Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Do you have some, you know, facts, to support that assertion? > > The law in question was passed in 1970, when Parliament decided that to qualify for public funding, a party had to have at least 50 candidates running in the general election. If a party failed to do that, it got de-listed as a federal party and was dissolved.. What, and the Communists waited until 1998 to sue over it? No, the law was amended (based on my faulty recollection) in the 1990’s to steal the funds of minority parties. I may be wrong - maybe Mulroney was running out of brown envelopes - but Chretien was the dictator at the time IIRC. I’ll have to do some more googling later. Chretien always had limited patience for the democratic process; he was the guy who jerked around Liberal riding associations to ensure the lazy useless MPs who supported him against Martin did not face challenges from the grassroots candidates in the 1993 election run-up. Many mor popular folk smelled blood when 1993 came around and wanted to displace tired old liberl hacks. The whole patronage scandal that he managed to stick on Martin was more of the same. No, in the 1990’s they specifically changed the rules so that parties that failed to get X candidate and Y votes lost everything and were dissolved and their assets seized. Why was that necessary, other than to discourage fringe parties? > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Your information is incorrect and badly out-of-date. Senators are appointed until age 75. The age limit was instituted in 1965. Ooh! They are forced to take a generous pension and perks at age 75. Up until then, they could collect their pay while living full-time in Mexico. (or have they change the rules so the members must show up now?) Ask anyone around you if they were offered a guaranteed, high paying job until age 75, plus a generous pension after that and lifetime pass to the House of Commons cafeteria, no way to be fired except maybe criminal conviction, and see if they think it isn’t described as a “lifetime job”. Sorry if you want to be picky. PS. I’ve waxed sarcastic because politics is a hot button issue. But seriously, thanks for the debate and the information. Informative. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-counties/526665.md?page=3)