Why do you think Stephen Harper is in a hurry to call an election in Canada right before the U.S. election?

Question

Could it be because our election will be so boring in comparison, he thinks few people will pay attention, and this will somehow help the Conservatives get re-elected?

Answer 1

got to give him credit. why not use the americans to benefit us, it won't cost anything.

Answer 2

sick

Answer 3

I had no idea he was calling an election.. ... =/

Frankly I have no clue.. wish I did.

Answer 4

cool

Answer 5

No it's the party who decides not him.

Besides he is leaving and not running again...must have something bigger and better elsewhere.  You now they just run for 3 years to get their pension...three years and a pension for life...must be nice.

Answer 6

Here's why Harper wants an election NOW.

1.  There are 9 parliamentary committees looking into Conservative scandals at the moment.  If an election is called, these committees are dissolved, and the scandals go away.

2.  Harper wants to cut the Green Party off at the ankles.  The Greens are running neck and neck with the Liberals in a By-election.  Not having an elected Green MP really changes how the Greens will be perceived in an election.  If the Green Party wins Guelph, a very real possibility, then that legitimizes everything that Harper has tried to claim is irrelevant about the environment. (Wilson has helped derail this, of course.)

3.  With America poised to swing left (Obama) in the US election, Harper can't afford to let Canada follow.  He is so right-wing, and if he waits until after the Democrats win, this could have an impact on Canadian elections.  

So, I don't think it's about "boringness" as much as it is about stopping scandal talk, derailing Greens, and left vs. right wing politics.  If Elizabeth May gets into the debates, it won't be so boring anymore!

Answer 7

who's the president of canada?

Answer 8

He is doing this now with the hope that it will win him the election. He knows that Canadian voters often vote for a Party that is friendly to the existing majority party in the USA.

If the Republicans are defeated in the USA election Harper won't stand a chance of being re-elected. And Harper is a smart man. He knows the Republicans don't stand a chance of winning on their past record. If the Democrats win Canadians, in all likelihood, will vote in a Liberal Government.

And that is why he is taking us to the polls now.