The
2008 Canadian federal election (more formally, the
40th Canadian General Election) was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the
Canadian House of Commons of the
40th Canadian Parliament after the
previous parliament had been dissolved by the
Governor General on September 7, 2008. The election yielded a
minority government under the
Conservative Party of Canada, led by the incumbent
Prime Minister,
Stephen Harper.
The election call resulted in the cancellation of four
federal by-elections that had been scheduled to occur in September.
Background
In 2007, Parliament passed a law fixing federal election dates every four years and scheduling the next election date as October 19, 2009, but the law does not (and constitutionally cannot) limit the powers of the Governor General to dissolve Parliament at any time, such as when
opposition parties bring down the government on a
vote of confidence. In this election there was no loss of a non-confidence vote, but the Prime Minister asked the Governor General to call an election. The Governor General granted the Prime Minister's request.
2006 election
64.7% of all eligible voters cast ballots in the
2006 federal election. The
Conservative Party received the most votes of any single party, with 36% of the vote and 124 seats (127 at dissolution). The Liberal Party won fewer seats than in 2006 — 103 seats (96 at dissolution), and 30% of the vote. The Bloc Québécois lost three...
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