MPs topple Liberal government, trigger election

CBC News
The opposition parties banded together Monday to defeat the Liberal minority government and set the stage for an election that is expected to culminate in a mid-January vote.

Paul Martin speaks to his supporters after the Liberal defeat.
In a 171 to 133 vote, the House passed a historic no-confidence motion exactly one year and five months after Canadian voters elected the Liberals.

Prime Minister Paul Martin will now have to go see Governor General Michaëlle Jean Tuesday morning and ask her to dissolve Parliament.

As the vote was conducted, parliamentarians stood up to applaud MPs who will not be running in the next election.

INDEPTH: Divided Parliament

The Liberal defeat marks the first time a government has fallen on a straight motion of no-confidence in Parliament.

Other minority governments have been forced into elections after losing budget votes or censure motions interpreted as loss of confidence.

Last week, Opposition leader Stephen Harper officially tabled the motion of no-confidence which read: "That this House has lost confidence in the government."

The Liberals have 133 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 98, the Bloc Québécois with 53 and the NDP with 18. There are four seats held by Independents and two are vacant.

According to a poll conducted by Environics Research for the CBC, 35 per cent of decided voters said they would vote Liberal. The Conservatives came in at 30 per cent and the NDP was picked by 20 per cent.

Stephen Harper speaks to his supporters after the Liberal defeat.

RELATED STORY: Canadians want majority, expect minority: poll

With a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20, the poll puts the Liberals and Conservatives at a virtual dead heat.

Federal elections have to be held on a Monday and the campaigns have to be at least 36 days long. Martin is expected to call for a slightly longer campaign, setting the vote for mid-January, either the 16th or the 23rd, with an agreement among the parties to take a holiday break and stop campaigning between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3.

An eight-week campaign would be the longest the country has seen in two decades.

The last time a government fell at the hands of the opposition was Joe Clark's Conservative government in 1979.

Monday's vote means a number of bills will die on the order paper, among them an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and an animal cruelty bill.

Funny that an American is the first one to post on our future Election.... No pun intended... [flag]

Anyway... YEP... we are going back for another election... PDT_Armataz_01_32

let the mud slinging begin

With a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20, the poll puts the Liberals and Conservatives at a virtual dead heat.

That's interesting

Ya know, I was hoping that there wouldn't be another election any time soon. This is just another waste of tax payers money and time. Here we go, Xmas eve political adds while you watch "A Christmas Carol". Almost all of this is based on the sponsorship scandal, what a joke. Sad when the desire for power outways the needs of the people who elect them.

This could have waited another couple of months. Unfortunately, forcing an early election might well play into the hands of the Liberals.

Hey we have a Conservative from Toronto and a non-Conservative from Calgary! I love it when stereotypes are turned upside down!

I'm not really a Conservative...More Liberal actually. Not left leaning enough to vote for NDP, but not comfortable voting for Liberal. So there we go. :wink:

[Plus, I couldn't vote for Belinda without gagging]

OOOOO........ Lost, yeah

Wait, I think we need to start another thread about this.

If your forced to watch campiagn adds on Christmas eve, what program would best go along with them?

I like it.

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