THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangPrime Minister Stephen Harper holds a press conference after visiting Governor General David Johnston to dissolve parliament and trigger an election campaign at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Sunday, August 2, 2015.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he has asked Governor General David Johnston to dissolve Parliament, touching off an 11-week campaign in advance of an election Oct. 19.
He was quickly peppered with media questions about why he was subjecting Canadians to a campaign that promises to be the longest in more than a century and the costliest in the country’s political history.
Simple, Harper replied: Conservative rivals are already campaigning.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says a desire to save taxpayers’ money motivated his decision to call an 11-week campaign that will actually cost taxpayers millions of dollars more.
Outside Rideau Hall on Sunday, Harper said it was “essential” to start the campaign in the first week of August ahead of a vote on Oct. 19. The 78-day campaign will be the longest in more than a century and, almost certainly, the costliest in Canadian history.
“As it my intention to begin campaign-related activities and it is also the case for the other party leaders, it’s important that these campaigns be funded by the parties themselves, rather than taxpayers,” the Conservative leader said.
CTVNews.ca Staff Published Sunday, August 2, 2015 12:20PM EDT
The federal election race is officially under way, and the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP appear to be in a three-way race as they leave the starting line.
The latest ballot tracking from Nanos Research shows a razor-thin margin of voter preference support separating the first-place Conservatives from the NDP and Liberals, in a survey that asked respondents which two parties they would consider voting for in their local riding.
Stephen Harper’s Conservatives led the survey results with 31.5 per cent support overall, followed closely by Thomas Mulcair’s NDP at 30.1 per cent, with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals trailing at 29.3 per cent support. The Green Party ranked a distant fourth in the survey with 5.4 per cent support.
“The trend has been favouring the New Democrats,” pollster Nik Nanos told CTV News on Sunday.
