Canadian PM calls June 28 election

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin took the biggest gamble of his career yesterday by calling a June 28 election despite clear signs his Liberals could lose their parliamentary majority after a decade in power.

The Liberals, badly hit by a patronage scandal which erupted in February, concede they will need to fight a flawless campaign to avoid slipping into a minority in what pollsters say is shaping up to be the tightest election in 25 years.

The contest pits the Liberals - who promise to keep a balanced budget while increasing spending on health care - against the newly-created Conservative Party, which favours tax cuts and reducing the role of central government.

Mr Martin said US levels of taxes would not be possible with Canada's publicly funded health system.

"You can have a country like Canada. You can have a country like the United States. That's a choice you can make. But you cannot have a health care system like Canada's, you can't have social programmes like Canada's, with taxation levels like those of the United States," he said.

Mr Martin was speaking to reporters after meeting Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, who as representative of Canadian head of state Queen Elizabeth gave formal permission for the election to go ahead.

"Do you want a Canada that builds on its historic strengths and values such as Medicare, generosity and an unflinching commitment to equality of opportunity? Or do you want a Canada that departs from much of this history - a Canada that rejects its valued tradition of collective responsibility?" said Mr Martin, who became prime minister last December.

The latest poll, an Ipsos-Reid survey released on Saturday, put the Liberals at 35 per cent, the Conservatives at 26 per cent, the leftist New Democrats at 18 per cent and with the separatist Bloc Quebecois far ahead of the Liberals in Quebec.

Such support indicates the Liberals - seeking a fourth successive election victory in just 10-1/2 years - would not gain a majority of the 308 seats in Parliament.

In this case they would need to form an alliance with a smaller party, most likely the left-leaning New Democrats, to be able to govern. Minority governments in Canada rarely last more than two years.

An election technically does not have to be held until November 2005, five years after the last Liberal victory, and pollsters say it makes little sense to hold an election now.

But Mr Martin aides say the prime minister cannot afford to suffer any more damage from a scandal over how C$100 million in government funds was funneled to firms with Liberal ties.

And a debate over gay marriage, which Mr Martin's team backs and which most Conservatives oppose, risks exploding into the open over the next year because of a Supreme Court case.

"This election is going to be very volatile," said Darrell Bricker, president of the Ipsos-Reid polling firm.

Backgorund information

Basic facts: Canada is the world's second largest country with a land mass of 9.97 million square kilometres, or 14 times the size of Texas. It has a population of 31.8 million people.

Electorate: Around 22.7 million Canadians are eligible to vote. In the November 2000 federal election, 13 million people voted, or 61.2 per cent of eligible voters. This was the lowest turnout since 1898.

Recent political history: The Liberals, the party in power at present, have governed for 44 of the last 60 years. They won the last three federal elections, in October 1993, June 1997 and November 2000, helped in part by vote splitting between two right-wing opposition parties. Those parties merged in December 2003.

Parliament: The number of seats in the House of Commons, lower chamber of Parliament, will increase to 308 this election from 301 at present, so a party needs to win 155 seats to have a majority. Current party standings are: Liberal Party - 168; Conservative Party - 73; Bloc Quebecois - 33; New Democratic Party - 14; Independents - nine; Vacant seats - four.

Parties: Three federal parties are represented in Parliament. The fourth party, the separatist Bloc Quebecois, only campaigns in the French-speaking province of Quebec.

Policies: Over the last decade the Liberals have eliminated the enormous budget deficit they inherited in 1993 and cut taxes gradually. The government decided to stay out of the war on Iraq, a move backed by a large majority of Canadians. They now promise to keep the budget balanced, while improving the state-funded public health care system.

The Conservatives promise major tax cuts while boosting spending on health care and the armed forces. The right wing of the party wants to diminish the role of government and give more rights to the 10 provinces.

The left-leaning New Democrats, long accused of promoting tax-and-spend policies, now say they do not favour a budget deficit. They want more money for social programs and the environment, balanced by an increase in corporate taxes. The party has never held power federally.

The leftist Bloc Quebecois wants independence for Quebec, a goal that looks increasingly unlikely. A referendum on sovereignty failed narrowly in 1995 and polls since then show support for the cause is fading. The party favours increased spending on health care and social programmes.

National party leaders: Prime Minister Paul Martin, 65, is a millionaire businessman who was finance minister for nine years before being sacked in June 2002 for disloyalty. He took over as prime minister in December 2003, but his plans to improve the public health-care system and make Parliament more democratic were derailed by a patronage scandal in February.

Conservative leader Stephen Harper, 43, is former head of the National Citizens Coalition, a right-wing lobby group, who masterminded the merger of the Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties last December. His rather reserved nature has caused some to question whether he can inspire voters but some pundits have said bland is good at a time of scandal.

New Democrat leader Jack Layton, 53, is former Toronto city councilor credited with reviving what had become a moribund party when he took over in 2003. Mr Layton, known for his quick wit, often highlights Martin's links to big business.