Reuters:
Canada opposition tries to force early election
Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:59 PM ET
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's three opposition parties threatened on Sunday to bring down the minority Liberal government this month if Prime Minister Paul Martin did not agree to their demands for a February election.
But Martin's team dismissed their demand as insincere and dared them to go ahead and topple the government and accept the consequences of an election campaign spanning the Christmas season.
"If the opposition wish to force an earlier election, that is their choice. They can bring forward a motion of non-confidence. They will win that vote and there will be a Christmas election," a Martin aide said.
"This is not a sincere gesture on the part of the opposition. It's a game of hot potato where they attempt to frantically hand off responsibility for forcing a Christmas election."
The leaders of the opposition parties overcame past squabbles and met on Sunday afternoon, coming up with a strategy of handing an ultimatum to Martin -- under heavy fire over a government corruption scandal.
"I don't believe this government has the moral authority to govern," said Conservative leader Stephen Harper, who hopes to end 12 years of Liberal rule and replace Martin as prime minister.
The plan is to debate an opposition motion either on Tuesday or Thursday calling for the government to dissolve Parliament in January and set a February election date.
They demanded that Martin make a solemn commitment to meet their demand, or else face an imminent formal confidence motion in Parliament.
If all three parties backed that motion, the Liberals would be defeated and there would be an election in January.
The rapid developments followed a change in heart by New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, who said last Monday he would no longer be able to support the government in light of an inquiry that concluded Liberals had engaged in an elaborate kickback scheme.
Martin had already pledged to hold an election in April, once the inquiry presented final recommendations on how to avoid similar wrongdoing in future.
The Martin aide said that if the government were brought down, it would mean killing various government measures including energy rebates for poor Canadians.
Layton said it was the first time in history the prime minister had been asked to set an election date. The threat of a non-confidence motion was designed to force him to agree.
The opposition parties are concerned that if an election is delayed until April, public anger over the scandal will have dissipated.
Three polls published over the weekend gave the Liberals a lead of 3 to 6 percentage points over the Conservatives, who have not held federal office since 1993.
If the poll results held through the election, the Liberals would likely form the government again but fail to regain their majority in Parliament.
Let's not forget how many times we (as in most of us) said that Bush should be voted out, or if we were americans..... Either way I'm sure 2 cents from anyone shouldn't hurt.
