Introduction
Parliament first considered the fixed-date election provision in the Canada Elections Act in 2006 and enacted it in May 2007. Even today, the statute still refers to what should have become the first scheduled federal election in October 2009 as the baseline for all subsequent scheduled elections, even though no federal election ever took place in 2009. Prime Minister Harper infamously opted secure a dissolution of the 39th Parliament one year early in September 2008 for an election in October 2009 on the reasonable grounds that his government had already lost the confidence of the Commons in practical terms because it could no longer shepherd its legislation through apart from Liberal abstentions.[1] In addition, Harper had met with Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party, and Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc quebecois, in the days before the early dissolution, and neither could pledge support; at the same time, Liberal leader Stephane Dion had stated openly and publicly that he would introduce a motion of non-confidence the week of 15 September 2008 when the Commons returned from its summer recess, in which case, there would have been an early election anyway.[2] Contrary to all evidence, this episode continues to stoke the ire of the liberal intelligentsia in some quarters over a decade later. And in March 2011, the House of Commons expressly withdrew its confidence from the Harper government, and an election occurred in May 2011. The first federal general election which took place as scheduled occurred on 19 October 2015. The election currently scheduled for 21 October 2019 would become only the second to occur on schedule, if everything holds.
In this election year, we should take stock in how Canada’s fixed-date elections legislation has evolved since 2007, how federal elections occur, and how they could be delayed under some circumstances.
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