Harper could call election this week

Stephen Harper isn’t offering any hints on when he will formally begin the campaign for his fourth term as Canada’s prime minister, though he said the election date itself is set in stone. The previous longest campaign was a 74-day one in 1926.

But the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Harper’s party already has its machinery in place and is expected to launch the campaign in August, possibly the first week.

The minimum length for a federal election campaign in Canada is 37 days, including the day it is called and the day ballots are cast.

But the Conservatives’ Fair Elections Act provided for the parties’ $25-million limits to be increased if the campaign is longer than 37 days: for each additional day the limit is increased by 1/37th, or an extra $675,000.

Taxpayers will also subsidize tax credits for donations to campaigns, parties and their candidates, which the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates are worth between $16 million and $36 million per year in foregone revenue.

The kickoff of the election has been the subject of much speculation, with some hypothesizing that Harper will call for an election early in order to bankrupt his opponents, who have raised less money than the Conservative Party. If talks stretch past the start of the campaign, experts say they could prove politically delicate.

“Basically they would be able to spend a lot more money on advertising and those sorts of things during the summer months, and even into September, whereas the other parties wouldn’t be able to do that”.

The final decision on timing rests with Harper.

A number of candidates have already established campaign headquarters as of Wednesday, including this one for Conservative MP Steven Fletcher in Winnipeg’s Charleswood-St. The NDP has a slight lead in many polls.

Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel said on Monday that a longer campaign would allow the Conservatives to better lay out the contrasts between their policies and the opposition’s.

“I don’t speculate, and I particularly don’t speculate on my own actions”, Harper said in an interview Wednesday at his Ottawa office.