MPs pull plug on Tory minority

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Enlarge Image

Stephen Harper's Tories become the first Commonwealth government to be cited for contempt of Parliament as Liberals' non-confidence motion passes.

OTTAWA -- That's all she wrote for the 40th Canadian Parliament.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit Gov. Gen. David Johnston at Rideau Hall this morning, triggering what many expect will be one of the nastiest elections Canada has ever seen.

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NDP Leader Jack Layton at a scrum after the government fell Friday. He, like Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, won't rule out a coalition. (ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

It is the second time Harper has made an election-call visit to Rideau Hall. In 2008, the call was at Harper's own volition. This time, Harper's trek was triggered because he lost a non-confidence vote Friday by a margin of 156 votes to 145.

Following the vote, Harper said the opposition parties are triggering an election Canadians don't want.

"Thus the vote today, which obviously disappoints me, will, I suspect, disappoint most Canadians," Harper said.

It is only the sixth time in Canadian history a government has lost the confidence of the House. Only once before has the defeated government been returned to power in the ensuing election. That was Pierre Trudeau in 1974, who ended up winning a majority government.

Harper and the Conservatives go in with a lead in the polls but their dominance varies. Ipsos-Reid said Thursday the Conservatives were up 19 points on the Liberals. Ekos reported Friday the Conservative lead was seven points. But other pollsters last week suggested Harper was vulnerable on leadership and trust in the wake of numerous questions about the Conservatives overstepping the bounds of their power in recent weeks.

Michael Ignatieff, entering his first campaign as Liberal leader, is banking on that vulnerability to help the Liberals earn more votes.

"After five years of Conservative government, it is time to say enough is enough. Enough of the politics of fear. Enough of the politics of division. Enough of the politics of personal destruction," Ignatieff said.

The Liberals introduced the non-confidence motion last week after a House of Commons committee found the government was in contempt of Parliament for not revealing how much they planned to spend to implement crime bills and buy new fighter jets. Ignatieff and the Liberals will also point to the fact Harper has asked the RCMP to investigate two former Conservatives -- one for illegal lobbying and influence peddling and the other for meddling in access to information requests. They also hope the election will finally provide traction for the election advertising-expenses scandal that has four Conservative operatives -- two of whom are now senators -- charged with breaking the Canada Elections Act.

Ignatieff also wants to cast himself and the Liberals as a party of open debate and discussion, compared with the top-down dictatorship style of Harper. As such, he appeared at the podium surrounded by Liberal MPs and took several questions right after Harper appeared by himself and answered no questions.

The NDP and Bloc Québécois joined with the Liberals to defeat the government, playing into one of the themes that will be prominent in the campaign -- the prospect of a coalition government.

Harper and the Conservatives are working overtime to convince Canadians if they don't elect a Conservative majority, Ignatieff and the Liberals will join forces with the NDP and the Bloc and form a coalition government.

National Conservative campaign chairman and former Harper chief of staff Guy Giorno tweeted the coalition threat nearly a dozen times in three days. Senior Manitoba minister Vic Toews said this week this election will be about only one thing -- keeping a Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition from happening.

The coalition question is one Ignatieff will face throughout the campaign and thus far, pundits are unimpressed by his responses. He has not directly answered the question. He instead says only he is in it to win it.

"I'm here to present to Canadians right now the clear choice between a Liberal government and a Conservative government and to say as clearly as I can to the Canadian people if you vote for anybody else -- Greens, NDP or Bloc -- you will get more of Mr. Harper," Ignatieff said.

NDP Leader Jack Layton is pitching his party as the only one that can defeat Conservative incumbents. Like Ignatieff, he would not rule out any postelection coalition. He also said he's running to win and once things play out, whether he is prime minister or not, he will work with any other parties that are elected.

Layton is starting the campaign still hobbling from recent hip surgery and fending off questions about whether his health will pose a problem at the polls.

Layton said he is feeling great.

"I can undress right here before you but I don't think that would be in the interest of Canadian politics or Canadian television," he joked.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Today's game plan

8 a.m. (CDT) Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrives at Rideau Hall in Ottawa to inform Gov. Gen. David Johnston his government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons and an election must be called.

8:30 a.m. Harper meets with reporters to lay out the broad strokes of his party's campaign strategy. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton will all make statements following Harper's press conference.

Once the leaders have spoken, they will head off to begin their various national tours. Harper is expected to start his campaign in Quebec. The Liberals plan to hold a rally in Ottawa followed by events in Montreal Sunday. Layton will be the first leader to hit the skies, boarding the NDP campaign plane bound for Edmonton.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 26, 2011 A3