Canadian Federal Election 2005-2006
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Opposition Plans to Force a January Election

The three Canadian federal opposition parties have reached an agreement on election timing and plan to force an election campaign over the holidays with a federal election in January, possibly as early as January 9.

The Conservative and Bloc party leaders have agreed to support an NDP motion this week that will ask the Liberal government to call an election the first week in January 2006, for an election in mid-February. Prime Minister Paul Martin has already promised to call an election within 30 days of the release of the second Gomery report on the sponsorship scandal, which is scheduled for February 1, and has indicated that he won't be changing those plans to suit the opposition.

Conservative leader Stephen Harper told a news conference Sunday that if the Liberals refuse to debate the motion, or refuse to accept the motion if it's adopted, the three opposition parties will support a non-confidence motion the following week which would topple the government immediately. The non-confidence motion would likely be on November 22 or 24.

The maneuvering over election timing is an attempt by all parties to avoid being blamed by the electorate for having an election campaign during the holiday season.