OTTAWA, 30 November 2005 — Canada will have fresh elections in January 2006 as Prime Minister Paul Martin’s 17-month-old minority government was defeated in a no-confidence vote here Monday night.
Martin’s Liberal Party lost the vote 133 to 171 in the House of Commons and the short-lived 38th Parliament was dissolved yesterday.
The prime minister and leaders of opposition parties criticized each other soon after the speaker announced the fall of the government.
Martin claimed that his government boosted the country’s economy and said his rival Stephen Harper is co-operating with separatist Bloc Quebecois. “Now it’s up to the people to support Liberals or those who have aligned with the separatists,” he said. Harper, leader of the New Conservative Party, lashed out at corruption of the Liberals and promised a better future under a Tory government.
Meanwhile, most opinion polls conducted this week suggest that Ottawa is heading for another hung Parliament.
According to a Strategic Counsel survey conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV, Martin’s Liberals enter an election campaign six percentage points ahead of the Conservatives, but are losing ground in the Ontario province and are facing an increased desire for a change of government.
