Harper to ask GG to set Oct. 14 as election date: sources

CBC NEWS

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will later this week ask Governor General Michaëlle Jean to set Oct. 14 as the date for the next federal election, senior government officials said Monday. Harper will visit Jean at Rideau Hall, her official residence in Ottawa, to establish the election date, the officials told the Canadian Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. The prime minister will declare that, after having met with all three opposition leaders over the last few days, he no longer has the confidence of Parliament, the sources said. As per tradition, it will then be up to Jean to decide whether to dissolve Parliament and set the election date. The official election call is expected to be made either Friday or Saturday. "It will happen between [September] 5th and the 7th," a senior government source told the Canadian Press."There will be an election kickoff between Friday and Sunday."

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The head of Canada's main opposition party, speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said on Monday that there would be a general election. Asked by reporters if there would be an election, Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion replied: "Oh, yes." Harper, whose Conservative Party won a minority government in January 2006, had asked to meet opposition leaders to see if there was any common ground ahead of Parliament's autumn session. He had suggested that if not, he would seek a fresh mandate.The leaders of the two other opposition parties, who met Harper last week, said they were convinced he wanted an election, and an adviser to the prime minister has pointed to October 14 as a likely date.

Kory Teneycke, a spokesman for Harper, said today's meeting found ``little common ground'' and that the government would decide in coming days whether to call an election.