Harper continues to push for fall election

NDP’s Layton says Canadians ‘ not interested’

CALGARY • Conservative leader Stephen Harper indicated yesterday he will continue to push for a late fall election, despite conceding his party doesn’t have enough public support to form the next government.

Speaking to reporters in Calgary, Mr. Harper admitted his Tories may need a boost in the polls from the fallout of the Gomery report to challenge the Liberals in the next vote.

When asked if his Conservatives could drum up the votes needed to win the next election, Mr. Harper said: “Probably not right now.”

“I think we would have to see after the Gomery report comes out,” Mr. Harper said of his party’s election chances.

But he challenged NDP leader Jack Layton to support the Conservatives in their attempts to topple the Liberal minority government — even suggesting a pre- Christmas vote shouldn’t be ruled out.

“I’m certainly prepared to have an election if we could win a vote in Parliament,” Mr. Harper said.

“If the NDP wants to stop backing the government, they’re going to have to make the decision in early November so the election could be well before Christmas.”

Justice John Gomery is to release on Nov. 1 his preliminary, fact-finding report of the inquiry into the $250-million sponsorship scandal.

The final report is expected on Feb. 1, after which Prime Minister Paul Martin has promised to call an election within 30 days of its release.

But the Tory leader said there are no guarantees his party will follow Mr. Martin’s promised time-line.

“We would like to see the preliminary report, which will come out in just a few weeks,” Mr. Harper said. “ After that, I think all bets are off.”

The government is withholding opposition days in the House of Commons until mid-November in an apparent attempt to prevent the Conservatives and other parties from defeating it and forcing an election before Christmas.

The move makes it unlikely the Conservative party will be able to spark an election following the initial Gomery findings.

Despite Mr. Harper’s tough talk, Mr. Layton said the Tory chief should bury his “obsession” with an election and recognize Canadians have no desire to head to the polls.

“He ought to get over it and get down to work,” Mr. Layton said in a telephone interview from his Toronto riding.

“Constantly speculating about whether there’s going to be an election or not, and who’s responsible for making sure there’s an election or not — the Canadian public is simply not interested in this, and rightly so.”

Mr. Layton said he has no interest in toppling the fragile Liberal minority government, but vowed he will move to do just that should it look to reintroduce billions in corporate tax cuts axed from the spring budget in exchange for NDP support of the fiscal blueprint.

“We were opposed to it before … and still are,” Mr. Layton said.