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Canada Set To Vote on January 23, 2006 |
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Written by D.L. McCracken
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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 |
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Following Monday's historic non-confidence vote which brought Paul Martin's minority Liberal government to a grinding halt, Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, today granted the prime minister's formal request for a dissolution of parliament and has announced that Canada's 39th general election will be held on January 23, 2006.
A motion of non-confidence, introduced by Opposition Leader Stephen Harper on November 24th was passed on Monday evening with a vote of 171 combined Conservative, NDP and Bloc votes versus 133 Liberal votes.
Prime Minister Martin and Opposition Leader Stephen Harper immediately stepped into election mode following the defeat. Martin told reporters yesterday, "The future of our government will be decided by Canadians, just as they will decide the futures of the neo-conservatives, the separatist Bloc and the NDP."
Stephen Harper began his official campaign by passionately stating, "This is not just the end of a tired, directionless, scandal-plagued government. It's the start of a bright new future for this great country."
Winter elections present unique challenges not only for the campaigners but for the actual voters. One of the most pressing concerns involves weather on election day. January is notorious for severe winter weather patterns and the worst case scenario would be a forecast of blizzard conditions on election day.
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