Writ drops as Nelsonites prepare to go to polls May 2
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
Just when the snow clears in your yard and the great outdoors beckon, Canada’s national roster of politicians will be calling, urging you to go inside and vote.
The writ has been dropped and, along with several million other Canadians, Nelsonites will go to the polls on May 2 in the wake of an election campaign expected to be bloody and hotly debated.
On Saturday Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the date of the next federal election after visiting Rideau Hall to meet Gov. Gen. David Johnston, who agreed to dissolve Parliament.
Canadians will now be going to the polls for the fourth time in roughly seven years.
According to The Canadian Press, minutes before Harper’s announcement, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff issued a statement to clarify his position on a coalition. He said if the Tories win the next election in a minority situation, he would allow them to form a government.
“We will not enter a coalition with other federalist parties,” he said.
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.
To win a majority government this time around, the Conservatives will need to win 155 seats.
