OTTAWA—Canada’s Parliament is expected to dissolve within days as all opposition parties unite to bring down a scandal-plagued Conservative government.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party still hold a solid lead in opinion polls, but opposition parties are confident they can improve their standing in the expected month-long campaign.
In recent days, Harper had to ask the national police force to investigate a former adviser for influence peddling. His party is also in a court battle with the country’s elections agency over campaign funding irregularities. Most recently, a parliamentary committee recommended the government be found in contempt of Parliament due to its refusal to disclose detailed costs of its tough-on-crime legislation.
That last finding has inspired the currently second-ranked Liberal Party to introduce a motion of nonconfidence. If it passes, Parliament will be dissolved and Canadians will head to the polls.
The Conservatives and Liberals will be battling to not only form the next government, but to win a majority of seats in Parliament. Harper has been clinging to a precarious “minority parliament” since October 2008, meaning his party has the most seats, but not an absolute majority of seats.
Minority parliaments rarely last more than two years, since there’s no tradition in Canada of parties binding together to form coalition governments. At most, temporary alliances are formed to pass bills—or to put forward a nonconfidence vote and bring a government down.
The coming election is expected to be among the most divisive in recent years. The Liberals will be accusing the Conservatives of being secretive and autocratic, while the Conservatives will maintain the Liberals are scheming to form a coalition and will mismanage the economy.
The New Democratic Party will paint both leading parties as disconnected from the needs of Canadians and the Bloc Quebecois—the party created with the agenda of separating country’s French province from the rest of the country—will tell Quebecers that only they can care for Canada’s Francophone province. The Greens have already started TV ads decrying all parties for their bitter attack styles.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party still hold a solid lead in opinion polls, but opposition parties are confident they can improve their standing in the expected month-long campaign.
In recent days, Harper had to ask the national police force to investigate a former adviser for influence peddling. His party is also in a court battle with the country’s elections agency over campaign funding irregularities. Most recently, a parliamentary committee recommended the government be found in contempt of Parliament due to its refusal to disclose detailed costs of its tough-on-crime legislation.
That last finding has inspired the currently second-ranked Liberal Party to introduce a motion of nonconfidence. If it passes, Parliament will be dissolved and Canadians will head to the polls.
The Conservatives and Liberals will be battling to not only form the next government, but to win a majority of seats in Parliament. Harper has been clinging to a precarious “minority parliament” since October 2008, meaning his party has the most seats, but not an absolute majority of seats.
Minority parliaments rarely last more than two years, since there’s no tradition in Canada of parties binding together to form coalition governments. At most, temporary alliances are formed to pass bills—or to put forward a nonconfidence vote and bring a government down.
The coming election is expected to be among the most divisive in recent years. The Liberals will be accusing the Conservatives of being secretive and autocratic, while the Conservatives will maintain the Liberals are scheming to form a coalition and will mismanage the economy.
The New Democratic Party will paint both leading parties as disconnected from the needs of Canadians and the Bloc Quebecois—the party created with the agenda of separating country’s French province from the rest of the country—will tell Quebecers that only they can care for Canada’s Francophone province. The Greens have already started TV ads decrying all parties for their bitter attack styles.
