Rivals practise before election kickoff
Confidence vote today in House Chilly Grey Cup reception for PM
VANCOUVER— Prime Minister Paul Martin says he doesn’t want a holiday election campaign but with opposition parties lined up against him, admits little hope of saving his minority Liberals in tonight’s confidence vote.
“ We don’t want to have a Christmas election. We said we would have an election in March. I think that’s when it should be,” the Prime Minister said yesterday.
“ But if they defeat us ( today) we’ll have an election,” Martin said as he stood over a hot skillet, flipping pancakes for Liberal supporters warming up for the Grey Cup game here.
Martin himself got a rough ride from many of the 59,195 fans who packed B. C. Place Stadium for the game between the Edmonton Eskimos and Montreal Alouettes. Achorus of boos sang out from the crowd when he stepped on the field for the pre- game coin toss. The crowd jeered again when Martin headed back into the stands, where he was sitting with the premiers.
In contrast, Governor General Michaëlle Jean, sitting with her husband and daughter, got a warm reception when introduced.
Tonight, Martin’s minority Liberals will be plunged into a political game, a holiday election that will see candidates plodding through snow, cold and Christmas cheers to woo voters.
In a taste of how this election is to be framed, Martin predicted
the pending campaign would centre on the economy, social programs and “ our values as Canadians.”
Martin has so far rebuffed the urgings of the opposition parties to call an election in early January for a February vote to avoid a Christmas campaign. Yesterday, NDP Leader Jack Layton left little doubt the campaign would begin this week.
“( Today), in the House of Commons, the Liberal government will lose the confidence of the House,” Layton told a morning gathering of British Columbia New Democrats here.
“ It’s time for a very significant change in the politics of this country,” said the federal NDP leader.
“ I get the feeling that team B. C. is ready to go. . . . Let’s get going,” he said to rousing cheers.
Layton decided against attending the Grey Cup to avoid a tiring red- eye flight back to Ottawa. Instead, he flew back yesterday afternoon. The Liberals currently hold 133 seats in the 308- seat House of Commons. The Tories have 98 seats, the Bloc Québécois 53 and the NDP 18 seats. There are four independents and two vacant seats.
Tonight, the Commons will vote on a Conservative motion that says simply: “That this House has lost confidence in the government.” With the NDP and Bloc voicing support, the motion is sure to pass, toppling a Liberal government that was elected June 28, 2004.
In a trial stump speech yesterday, Layton predicted the campaign, expected to stretch until Jan. 16 or Jan. 23, will be “ wideopen.” He pitched the New Democrats as a “ progressive alternative to Liberal corruption or the Conservatives who are just plain wrong on the issues.”
“ This electionm,” Layton said, “ We’re going to break through because we have a record of getting results.”
“ It’s time for us to say enough is enough,” Layton said, a phrase he repeated often during his half- hour talk.
Saying “Liberal words don’t match Liberal deeds,” Layton accused the government of doing little to stop the “ creeping privatization of health care” or protect workers. He was especially critical of Martin’s stand in the softwood lumber dispute with the United States, accusing the Prime Minister of idle talk while B. C.’ s forest industry was “ decimated.”
“ The best he could muster was to threaten the Bush administration that if they don’t take action, he will talk some more,” Layton said to laughter.
“ It’s clearly time for a change based on this record,” said Layton, who was flanked by the party’s B. C. MPs and candidates at a Vancouver hotel. He touted his own party’s spring budget deal with the Liberals that eliminated a corporate tax while at the same time pumped more money into NDP priorities.
Martin used his weekend in Vancouver to try out his own election lines.
In a Saturday speech to party faithful, Martin blamed Layton for forcing the election and attacked Conservative Leader Stephen Harper for not speaking up for Canada in Quebec. Harper was a no- show at the Grey Cup, opting instead to remain in Ottawa to get ready for the campaign ahead.
“He’s enjoying his children and family and preparing,” Conservative spokesperson William Stairs said.
After tonight’s vote, the Prime Minister is expected to immediately meet with his caucus and announce that he will visit with Jean tomorrow at 9.45 a. m. and then launch the campaign.
Layton, Harper and Martin are all planning to launch their campaigns on Parliament Hill, before jumping in their planes and buses to begin weeks of cross- country campaigning.
It will be the first winter campaign since the Feb. 18, 1980, vote after Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark’s minority government fell in a confidence vote.
It promises to be a campaign bedevilled by weather woes. While Greater Toronto will have mild weather for week one, candidates door-knocking in the Prairies will feel winter’s bite — temperatures in Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg are forecast to be hovering at – 15C for the week. Aweekend poll for the Toronto Star showed the Liberals are heading into the election campaign with a majority victory in sight and a lead of almost 10 percentage points over the secondplace Conservatives. The Liberals stand at 38.7 per cent of voter support, while the Conservatives have 29.4 per cent and New Democrats have 16.9 per cent, according to EKOS Research Associates Inc. The Bloc, which fields candidates only in Quebec, has 10.6 per cent. Support for the Green Party stands at 3.9 per cent.