Chretien and Day also stand at odds on issues surrounding human rights legislation. Day is in favor of referenda asking Canadians to make abortion illegal and reinstate capital punishment; Chretien is vehemently opposed. While under Chretien, the Canadian government recently extended to homosexuals the right to legal marriage, Day has railed against laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination.

In fact, it is mostly through the lens of policy that matters of character have been addressed at all. In contrast to the choreographed visibility of religious affiliation in the American election campaign, Day's conservative Christian value system--he fought for the Alberta government to recognize religious schools and has declared that creationism is just as well substantiated by science as evolution--has been perceived as a major liability by the Canadian electorate. Allegations that Chretien used government funds to back business activities in his riding have been addressed as legal, not voting, issues and have not hurt his standing in the polls.

Indeed, the most-discussed criticism of Chretien's character is the charge of "arrogance." This accusation arises from another principal difference between the Canadian and American voting systems. In Canada, a prime minister may enjoy an unlimited stay in power, so long as he never allows more than five years to pass without calling an election. Chretien has served as prime minister since 1993; he is seeking his third term in office. Pierre Trudeau, the former Canadian prime minister who passed away two months ago, led the nation for 16 years. The advantages of allowing such long stints in power are continuity of vision and protection against negative change. It is never wise to change paths just for a taste of something new. The Alliance Party's platform, with the compelling slogan "A Time for Change," bears this philosophy out.

The disadvantage of unlimited terms is that they allow prime ministers to consolidate and potentially abuse power. The fear is that they might become dictators or tyrants. While this indeed may be a real fear in many countries, Canadians are blissfully free of such a worry. Chretien is so little self-concerned that the security around his official residence was minimal enough to allow, in 1995, for an intruder to break in. Prime Minister Chretien was left to fend for himself and his wife with a piece of Native artwork until police arrived almost ten minutes later.

The last salient point of difference between electoral systems north and south of the border is the length of election campaigns. While Americans have been subject to Bush's poor pronunciation and Gore's banal wardrobe for well over a year, Canadians have had little over a month to contemplate their political future. For Canadians at Harvard, this might have been just long enough to hear that an election is happening at all.

So to all those Canadians out there who have yet to register: Vote! Go to http://www.elections.ca, fill out a form, and make sure that not only your American friends are doing something patriotic this Thanksgiving break.

Dalia L. Rotstein '03, a Crimson editor, is a social studies concentrator in Pforzheimer House. She is a native of Toronto, Ontario.