Politics of Canada in the context of "Latin American Canadians"

In modern politics, "law and order" is an approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws and even capital punishment in some countries. Many who support the "Law and Order" movement would see harsh punishment as a deterrent for crime. Opponents of the "law and order" movement make the argument that harsh punishment is unsuccessful in deterring crime and does not address underlying or systemic causes of crime. They furthermore credit it with facilitating greater militarisation of police and contributing to mass incarceration in the United States.

Despite the widespread popularity of "law and order" ideas and approaches between the 1960s to the 1980s exemplified by presidential candidates including Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan running successfully on a "tough-on-crime" platform, statistics on crime showed a significant increase of crime throughout the 1970s and 1980s instead, and crime rates only began declining from the 1990s onwards. To differing extents, crime has also been a prominent issue in Canadian, British, Australian, South African, French, German, and New Zealand politics.

The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; French: Parti libéral du Canada, PLC) is a national political party in Canada and has been the governing party at the federal level since 2015. It has been one of the primary contenders for power for much of Canada's history, leading the national government for close to 60% of time. Mark Carney has been its leader and the Prime Minister of Canada since March 2025.

The Liberal Party espouses the principles of liberalism, and generally sits at the centre to centre-left of the Canadian political spectrum, with their main rival, the Conservative Party, positioned to their right and the New Democratic Party positioned to their left. The party is often described as a "big tent", practising "brokerage politics", attracting support from a broad spectrum of voters. The Liberal Party is the oldest currently active federal political party in the country, and has dominated the federal politics of Canada for much of its history. As a result, it has sometimes been referred to as Canada's "natural governing party".

The culture of Canada embodies the artistic, culinary, literary, humour, musical, political and social elements that are representative of Canadians. Throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced firstly by its indigenous cultures, and later by European culture and traditions, mostly by the British and French. Over time, elements of the cultures of Canada's immigrant populations have become incorporated to form a Canadian cultural mosaic. Certain segments of Canada's population have, to varying extents, also been influenced by American culture due to shared language (in English-speaking Canada), significant media penetration, and geographic proximity.

Canada is often characterized as being "very progressive, diverse, and multicultural". Canada's federal government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration. Canada's culture draws from its broad range of constituent nationalities, and policies that promote a just society are constitutionally protected. Canadian policies—such as abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and cannabis; an emphasis on cultural diversity; significant immigration; abolishing capital punishment; publicly funded health care; higher and more progressive taxation; efforts to eliminate poverty; and strict gun control are social indicators of the country's political and cultural values. Canadians view the country's institutions of health care, military peacekeeping, the national park system, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as integral to their national identity.

Canadian values are the perceived commonly shared ethical and human values of Canadians. The majority of Canadians believe they share specific values, with a plurality identifying human rights, respect for the law and gender equality as collective principles. Canadians generally exhibit pride in equality before the law, fairness, social justice, freedom, and respect for others; while often making personal decisions based on self-interests rather than a collective Canadian identity. Tolerance and sensitivity hold significant importance in Canada's multicultural society, as does politeness.

Canadians typically tend to embrace liberal views on social and political issues. In Canada the idea of a "just society" is constitutionally protected, with government policies—such as publicly funded health care; higher and more progressive taxation; outlawing capital punishment; strong efforts to eliminate poverty; an emphasis on cultural diversity; the legalization of same-sex marriage, pregnancy terminations, and euthanasia—being social indicators of the country's political and cultural values.

Canadian studies is an interdisciplinary field of undergraduate- and postgraduate-level study of Canadian culture and society, the languages of Canada, Canadian literature, media and communications, Quebec, Acadians, agriculture in Canada, natural resources and geography of Canada, the history of Canada and historiography of Canada, Canadian government and politics, and legal traditions. Similar ranges of subjects centred on indigenous peoples in Canada (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) may be part of Indigenous (Native) studies, Canadian studies or both.

Several universities that offer Canadian studies undergraduate degrees recommend that students take a double major (e.g. political science, international relations or French), if not included in the course. Some careers for students who take Canadian studies include the foreign service and working at Canadian embassies or the foreign embassies in Canada.

The Liberal Party of Canada held a leadership election on April 6, 1968. The election was won by Minister of Justice and Attorney General Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who became the new prime minister of Canada as a result. He was the unexpected winner in what was one of the most important leadership conventions in party history. The Globe and Mail's newspaper report the next day called it "the most chaotic, confusing, and emotionally draining convention in Canadian political history."

The convention was held following the announced retirement of Lester B. Pearson, who was a well-respected party leader and prime minister, but who had failed to win a majority government in two attempts. Eight high-profile cabinet ministers entered the race, but by the time the convention began on April 3, the charismatic Trudeau had emerged as the front runner. He was strongly opposed by the party's right wing, but this faction was divided between former Minister of Trade and Commerce Robert Winters and Minister of Transport Paul Hellyer and failed to mount a united opposition. Trudeau won the leadership with the support of 51% delegates on the fourth ballot of the convention.