Harper determined to call election: Duceppe
Stephen Harper "absolutely wants to call an election" for the fall, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said after meeting with the prime minister on Friday.
Gilles Duceppe talks to reporters on the grounds of 24 Sussex, the official residence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after meeting with Harper. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press) Gilles Duceppe talks to reporters on the grounds of 24 Sussex, the official residence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after meeting with Harper. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)
Harper should instead be seeking common ground with the opposition parties to pass legislation during the next session of Parliament, scheduled Sept. 15, Duceppe told reporters, but "the game plan has been set by the prime minister."
Harper has said the workings of the House of Commons, where his party's 127 seats give him a minority, have become "dysfunctional." The Liberals hold 95 seats, the Bloc 48 and the NDP 30. There are four independent MPs and four vacant seats.
Without providing details, the Bloc leader said he and Harper laid out their positions, but did not talk about compromises.
"We explained our positions and he will consider them. I told him what our position was on all of the issues. Now, I think that beyond that, he is determined to have an election," Duceppe said.
"He could try and act for the benefit of the people and see what kind of arrangment he could make with one or the other of the parties, but he's thinking of the interests of his own party," the Bloc leader added.
The two men met at the prime minister's residence at 24 Sussex Dr. to talk about whether it's best to swap the fall parliamentary session for an election campaign and a mid-October vote.
Many observers are predicting Harper will go to Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean sometime late next week to dissolve Parliament and clear the way for an early election.
The Reuters news agency said it spoke to an unidentified aide to Harper on Friday who said the prime minister sees Sept. 2-7 as the first window to call a general election, meaning a vote could be held on Oct. 14.
Duceppe is the first opposition leader to respond to Harper's call for one-on-one meetings. Earlier this month, Harper said he wanted to gauge support for Conservative policies before the resumption of Parliament.
NDP Leader Jack Layton will meet with Harper at 24 Sussex Dr. on Saturday.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's office has told Harper he would be available to meet with the prime minister on Sept. 9, a day after three byelections are to be held in Quebec and Ontario.
So far, Dion has not heard back from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The meeting with Duceppe was held as the Conservatives released new television commercials portraying Harper as a strong, steady leader who has lowered taxes and shored up the military.
The election-style ads, in both English and French, feature Canadians who offer a positive assessment of Harper.
"Stephen Harper's the kind of person who knows where he stands. He's a straight-up guy," one man says in the advertisement.
The 30-second spots are in sharp contrast to a spate of Conservative commercials released earlier in the summer, which focused on attacking Dion and his proposal to tax carbon emissions.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set October 14 as the date for the 40th Canadian federal election. The Prime Minister met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean at her official residence of Rideau Hall today to request that the 39th Parliament of Canada be dissolved. The Queen's representative agreed to drop the writ and hold the election on Harper's recommended date.

Throughout the duration of Harper's minority parliament, there have been several times where an election call had been predicted, but it managed to survive longer than any true minority government in Canadian history, despite having the smallest relative caucus. Nevertheless, today's announcement has been a near-certainty for the past week, and each party has already begun campaigning and putting up signs. The Conservatives began airing TV advertisements before the official election call was made.

After meeting individually with the leaders of the three other parties represented in the House of Commons, Harper said that he does not have confidence in the ability of the Parliament to continue to work. After each of his meetings at 24 Sussex Drive, opposition leaders emerged saying that Harper was intent on calling an election and had already decided that there could be no common ground with opposition parties. Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe said after his August 29 meeting with the Prime Minister that "instead of making efforts to try finding solutions in the best interest of the population, he wants an election in the best interest of his party". Over the course of this past Parliament, the governing Conservatives rarely found compromises with the other parties, and his small caucus has survived largely because the Liberal Party chose to abstain from crucial bills rather than vote against them.

The move is somewhat unusual. While minority governments rarely last long in Canada a request for the dissolution of Parliament is normally not made until the government is defeated on a motion of confidence by the opposition parties. The move is also unusual because it appears to violate a law passed by Harper himself; Bill C-16 of the first session set fixed election dates for federal elections, reading "each general election must be held on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election". Under the law, the next election was not to be held until October 19, 2009; however, the government has stated that the bill was never intended to be used in minority parliaments. Harper argues, however, that the parliament could no longer function and opposition parties intended to defeat the government. With that rationale, Governor General Jean had little choice but to follow her prime minister's advice.

A recent poll conducted by Ipsos Reid for CanWest News Service reported that half of all the 1,003 Canadians surveyed said Harper would make the best Prime Minister, with New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton at 31%, and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion at 20%. NDP leader Jack Layton is at 38% support for being "sincerely committed to dealing with global warming," with Dion at 30%, and Harper last at 27%. "If this election is going to be a referendum on leadership, Stephen Harper has a heck of an advantage," says Ipsos Reid president Darrell Bricker. He also says Dion has to "to rough up Stephen Harper a bit" if he wants to win the election.

Harper is also at 50% for being the best to lead in tough economic times, 47% for having "what is takes" to lead the country, and 43% for "a vision of Canada that you can support."

The Conservatives currently hold 127 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, up from 124 at the last election, while the Liberals hold 95 seats, down from 103.  Recent polls show the Conservatives polling at 37% support among voters, just below the 40% usually required to form a majority government.