>>Every 4-5 years here in Canada.
>
>When are the next ones? Do they stagger which offices are up for grabs? What offices are up for grabs in the next election, and what offices are the "big ones" (like President, Senator, or Governor here in the USA).

Hi Mike.

There is no fixed schedule for Federal elections in Canada, but a government can't sit for more than 5 years. Generally governments call elections around the 4 year mark.

Similiarites to the US system:
- we have ridings were we elect a local repsentative
- we directly vote for an MP (member of parliment) which is much like a member of congress

Differences:
- our senate is unelected (sucks) and vacancies are appointed by the current prime minister (through the Governor general)
- the leader of the house of the prime minister, he leads the government and usually the party. He is a combination of the house leader and president
- we don't vote directly for Prime Minister, the party chooses the leader, but this is known before the election. Prime Minister is only directed voted for by people from his local electoral zone (riding).
- as long as the Prime Minister can keep the confidence of his elected party members (usually they can) he/she is a virtual dictator. They can propose and pass laws since they hold the majority of the votes. What reins them in from doing stupid things is that they want to get re-elected
- the senate can technically reject bills, but wouldn't dare since they are unelected
- we don't have primaries. Instead there is a convention which any party member can run. It is possible for a canadiate to (almost) come out of nowhere, become the leader of the party and become PM. Sorta.
- the prime minister must choose his/her executive (cabinet) from the elected members of parliment
- the Governer General (the reprsentative of Queen of Cananda and Queen of England) is technically the actuall leader of the governement, but as with England and the former colonies, they do not exercise this power anymore
- there is no vice Prime Minister, but instead a deputy PM, but the PM does not campaign with that person, or generally even announce who that person will be

I think the parlimentary system is very efficient, since there is no balance of power. But really the balance of power is a distrust of the will of the people in my mind.