OTTAWA--Canadians go to the polls Monday in an election that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has framed as a chance to further solidify the country's nascent economic recovery with a majority Conservative government after five years of minority Tory rule.It seems that until last week, polls showed another Conservative government mandate. Now, a new scenario has emerged in which the New Democrats and the Liberals together win enough seats to form a New Democrat-led coalition.
Just a few weeks back, polls showed Mr. Harper poised--though not quite clinching--that long-elusive majority. But a sudden surge in popularity in the past week by the left-leaning New Democratic Party has upended that calculus.
Going into Monday's vote, the NDP is now solidly in second place, trailing the Conservatives by just a few percentage points in some surveys. The party's leader, Jack Layton, has capitalized on a platform pledging higher health-care spending, richer benefits for seniors and a boost to corporate-tax rates. He's also wooed French-speaking Quebec, drawing votes from the separatist federal party, the Bloc Quebecois.
Would be nice, but sounds like it could go either way. Interesting note about the Bloc Quebecois. More later.
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