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Article: Harper glides past Martin and towards power; Canada's election.(Canada's federal election)(Stephen Harper, Paul Martin)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 21, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Conservative leader's move to the centre, and the Liberals' weary bungling, have combined to change the political landscape
AT THE end of November, when the Conservative opposition forced a confidence vote that toppled the Liberal minority government, the conventional wisdom in Ottawa was that the resulting general election would be pointless as well as untimely. The assumption was that the federal parliament to be elected on January 23rd would be much like the old one, not least because Canadians would not take kindly to a winter campaign.
But Stephen Harper, the Conservative leader, apparently knew better. As the campaign drew to a close, the only ...