>So, since there is no fixed cycle for federal elections, they occur whenever they are called for by the government, which has to occur before the government hits the 5 year mark since the last election?
Correct.
>How about local elections, do those exist and are they on a fixed schedule? Are they typically compelling to the voting public, or are they more ceremonial and don't generate much participation?
Every province and territory (think province-lite) has a parliment that is much like the federal government except that they don't have senate. Federal politics is where all the flashy stuff is such as the big decisions on healthcare and defense budgets and bills about civil rights such as equality. I would argue though the provincial government has more say in the daily lives of Canadians since the provinces while they get funding from the feds, actually decide how to deliver education and healthcare. Decide how to deliver it within the federal laws. Provinces vary, but generally they elect governments every 4-5 years. Some on a fixed schedule, some not. The provinces control resources such as forestry, mining and fisheries which all always hot button topics. As mentioned above they deliver healthcare and education and there are always passionate issues.
Canada (Federally and provincially) tends to have a higher voter turnout that the US.
US:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.htmlCanada:
http://www.idea.int/vt/region_view.cfm?CountryCode=CANot sure why. Perhaps there is more parties to choose from. A smaller country maybe makes your vote feel like it may count... maybe we are still shaping our country... Maybe the strongest reason is that as menioned before the parilmentary system means ruling party can quickly and radically change the province or country since once they are in power they can pass whatever bills they want. This means that there potentially is a lot at stake.
City elections tend to have the lowest turnouts. I think this is the same as the US. Big cites such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver tend to have the sexier issues which means more press and more voters.
