Harper dissolves Parliament, officially calls election

NDP Tom Mulcair leader kicked off his party’s election campaign – the “Campaign for Change” – across the river from Parliament Hill Sunday morning just moments after his Conservative rival asked Governor General David Johnson to dissolve Parliament.

“Given the serious economic and security issues facing the world, it is appropriate that Canadians should have time to consider the alternatives before them”.

Canadians will be going to polls on October 19th.

“A national election is not a popularity contest”, he said.

The partnership, “should it be concluded, will in our view form the fundamental trading network of the entire Asia-Pacific region”, he said during a campaign stop in Laval, Que., north of Montreal. “This is no time for risky plans that could harm our future”, Harper said in a statement.

The Conservatives’ campaign slogan is “Stephen Harper: Proven leadership for a strong Canada”. The election, he said, is about which party can give middle class Canadians a real and fair chance to succeed.

It’s also expected to be the costliest campaign ever, as well as the first in which three parties all have a legitimate shot at winning – a sure formula for a vicious, no-holds-barred battle.

Darrell Bricker, president of polling firm Ipsos Canada, said this election is shaping up as the most hard to predict in decades.

Perhaps in a not-so-subtle counterpoint to the Conservative decision to rally in a Liberal garrison on Sunday night, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was scheduled to make an appearance Monday in Calgary, Harper’s longtime stronghold.

Their best showing was in 2011, when Liberal Irwin Cotler beat Conservative candidate Saulie Zajdel by 2,300 votes. A long, financial war of attrition on the hustings could have ramifications beyond who actually wins the election.

And with the long race, and limited budgets, Prince says Islanders can expect to spend the rest of their summer seeing politicians from all parties on the street and at their doorstep, saving their advertising cash for the critical fall run-up to voting day.

In the Prairie Provinces, the Conservatives have a slight lead on the NDP (39% to 33%), while the Liberals trail (24%).

In Sidney, B.C., Green party Leader Elizabeth May chastised Harper for an unfair system that will cost taxpayers “tens of millions of dollars” and give the Tories an unfair advantage. That firm and others have also released survey results indicating up to two-thirds of Canadians believe it is time of a change in government in Ottawa.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said Harper had presided over the worst economic growth record of any prime minister since 1960.

Heading into the campaign, opinion polls suggest the Conservatives are lagging Mulcair and the NDP, with the Liberals running third.