Canadians head to polls on May 2 after GG dissolves Parliament
“The opposition parties have decided to force an election”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen arrive at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, March 26 2011, to ask Governor General David Johnston for dissolution of Parliament. (PHOTO BY JOHN MAJOR FOR POSTMEDIA NEWS)
MARK KENNEDY AND ANDREW MAYEDA
Postmedia News
OTTAWA — Canada’s voters will go to the polls on May 2 after an election campaign that promises to be packed with fiery debate.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the date of the next federal election on Saturday morning after visiting Rideau Hall to meet Gov. Gen. David Johnston, who agreed to dissolve Parliament.
Within 15 minutes, Harper emerged to tell Canadians they will be going to the polls for the fourth time in roughly seven years.
“The opposition parties have decided to force an election,” said Harper. “An election the country does not want, an election the economy does not need.”
Harper said that the country needs a stable majority government and he alleged that the opposition parties are planning to form a coalition government if the Tories win a minority.
Just minutes before Harper’s announcement, however, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff issued a statement to clarify his position on a coalition.
Ignatieff said that if the Tories win the next election in a minority situation, he would allow them to form a government.
He flatly said: “We will not enter a coalition with other federalist parties.”
The last time Canadians went to the polls was in October 2008, when they gave Harper’s Conservatives a second straight minority government.
The government was defeated Friday by all three opposition parties on a vote of non-confidence which declared the Tories were in contempt of Parliament.
At dissolution, the Conservatives held 143 of the 308 seats in the Commons, while the Liberals held 77, the Bloc Quebecois, 47, and the NDP, 36.
There were two independent MPs and three vacant seats.
Harper’s Tories are hoping for a majority government this time around. For that, they will need to win 155 seats.
The leaders will waste no time promoting their message.
Harper heads off to Quebec City, while the Liberals’ Michael Ignatieff campaigns in Ottawa and then boards a bus for Montreal.
NDP leader Jack Layton campaigns in Ottawa and then flies to Edmonton.
Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe launches his campaign in Montreal, while Green Party leader Elizabeth May opens her campaign office in B.C.’s Saanich-Gulf Islands.
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