Election called for June 28
Last Updated Sun, 23 May 2004 14:05:31

OTTAWA - Ending weeks of speculation, Prime Minister Paul Martin has called
a federal election, marking the start of a five-week campaign that will end
in a June 28 vote.

Martin walked hand in hand with his wife Sheila from 24 Sussex Drive to
visit Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson Sunday afternoon and ask her to dissolve
the 37th Parliament.

"I am proud of our record," Martin said in a speech outside
Rideau Hall. "But I want to do much more, so I will be setting out a
plan to do just that. "And I will be asking for a mandate from the
public to act on that plan. That's why an election is necessary now."

The 36-day campaign will test the mettle of three leaders in their first
battle to be prime minister  Martin, Conservative leader Stephen Harper and
NDP Leader Jack Layton. Martin will try to carry on the successful path of
his predecessor, former prime minister Jean Chretien, who led the Liberal
party to three straight majority governments.

But with aggressive campaign ads already on the airwaves and lawn signs
sprouting across Canada, the contest seemed to begin early. In the days
leading up to the election call, the Liberals made a number of key
announcements, including changes to the controversial gun registry program
and funding to Toronto's waterfront and transit system. The sponsorship
scandal and the creation of the new Conservative party and a rejuvenated
NDP could be major factors that make the contest competitive.

The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, are counting on their newly
merged party to end vote-splitting in key ridings, specifically Ontario
where the Liberals now control all but eight of the 103 seats in the
province. Harper, a Calgary MP and former leader of the Canadian Alliance,
became the first leader of the new Conservative Party in March, after
merging with the Progressive Conservatives. The new party has put on a
united front, despite a few high-profile defections from the old
Progressive Conservative party, including former prime minister Joe Clark.
Clark also made headlines when he said he would prefer Martin  the
"devil he knows"  to Harper as prime minister.

Layton, a former Toronto city councillor, has led the NDP since 2003, but
has never sat as an MP. He has managed to attract a number of name
candidates to his side, including former leader Ed Broadbent and Monia
Mazigh, who led a year-long campaign to have her husband Maher Arar
released from a Syrian prison.

A number of Liberals are worried voters in Ontario will take out their
anger on the federal Liberal candidates following last week's provincial
budget of tax increases and broken promises. The call was made amid polls
that suggest the Liberals have been losing voter support since February,
when the auditor general issued a report putting the spotlight on the
sponsorship scandal.

Most opinion polls show that while the Liberals are teetering between
winning a majority and minority government.


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