Canadian Politics (And the 2011 Federal Election) for Dummies:

Before 1960 an Aboriginal person had to give up their treaty rights if they wanted to vote in Canada. (Click here to read an Elections Canada study on Aboriginal people and the federal election.)

In 2008, when the Harper government won a minority seat in the House of Commons, Canada saw its lowest voter turnout ever, with only 58.8 per cent of eligible voters hitting the the polls.

Low voter turnout is linked to age, education, and a persons socio-economic conditions.

The Harper government is the first government in Canadian history to be found in contempt of parliament. The reason is because the Tories would not disclose how many taxpayer dollars they'd spent (or, are spending) on military fighter jets and prisons after being asked numerous times by the opposition.

Harper and his Conservatives were brought down by a non-confidence vote last friday, which is why we are having another federal election.

A Minority government means that the cabinet does not have an overall majority over the seats in parliament, therefore they depend on support (or votes) from other members to pass bills and achieve goals.

There are currently 308 seats in the House of Commons, before the Conservative government was toppled by the non-confidence vote they held 143 seats. The opposition made up the rest of the seats with the Liberals holding 77 seats, The NDP holding 36 seats, The Bloc Quebecois at 47 seats, two independent seats and three vacant seats.

This is the fifth federal election in 10 years for Canada.

A Federal election costs Canadian taxpayers, on average, about $300-million.

If you're not sure where you stand, click here to do CBC's Vote Compass; a survey that will show you which party your political beliefs most align with.