Government Falls on Contempt of Parliament Motion

A federal election is imminent after MPs voted 156-145 to defeat the Conservative government.

And that’s the ballgame. The 40th Parliament has come to an end courtesy of a Liberal motion that asserted the House has lost confidence in the government. The motion was based on House Speaker Peter Milliken’s ruling two weeks ago that the Conservatives appeared to be in contempt of Parliament when they refused to disclose the cost of their proposed crime legislation. An election will likely be called for May 2, and the Conservatives go into the campaign with a healthy lead in the polls that some analysts suggest could lead to Stephen Harper’s first majority government. This will be Canada’s fifth general election in just over 10 years, and Harper’s second as the incumbent prime minister.