Conservative government goes down; Election set for May 2
By Nelson Daily Staff
Forget spring cleaning and the Stanley Cup playoffs, Canadians are going to the polls May 2.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Rideau Hall early Saturday to ask Gov. Gen. David Johnston to dissolve Parliament.
A non-confidence motion supported by the opposition in the House of Commons Friday defeated the federal Conservative government.
The campaign for Canada’s 41st election is expected to officially begin this weekend, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit Rideau Hall to ask Gov. Gen. David Johnston to dissolve Parliament. Canadians will be going to the polls for the fourth time in seven years.
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff declared the Conservatives broke the rules of Canada’s democratic system and they were in contempt of Parliament and had lost the confidence of the Commons. The motion passed by a vote of 156 to 145.
A parliamentary committee recently recommended the government be found in contempt for failing to provide enough information about the costs of its crime legislation. Commons Speaker Peter Milliken ruled earlier this month that, “on its face,” the government appeared to have breached the parliamentary privilege of MPs by refusing to release the information.
Some pre-election facts
• The Conservatives hold 143 of the 308 seats in the Commons. The Liberals hold 77, the Bloc Quebecois 47, and the NDP 36. There are two independent MPs, Helena Guergis and Andre Arthur. There are three vacant seats.
• It is only the sixth time in history the federal government has been defeated on a confidence vote in the House of Commons. Previously, that had only happened to minority governments under Arthur Meighen in 1926, John Diefenbaker in 1963, Pierre Trudeau in 1974, Joe Clark in 1979 and Paul Martin in 2005.
• Party leaders will fan out across the country on Saturday to begin a campaign that will end May 1.
• A new poll suggests the Conservatives hold a commanding lead in public support heading into the campaign. The Conservatives command 43 per cent support among decided voters, putting them well within reach of a majority, according to an Ipsos Reid commissioned by Postmedia News and Global National.
The Liberals registered 24 per cent support, the NDP are at 16 per cent, the Bloc at 10 per cent, and the Green Party at six per cent.
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