" The Conservative Party wants to introduce a non-confidence motion in Parliament on Tuesday, according a new report. Tory Leader Stephen Harper will present the idea to Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and the NDP's Jack Layton at a meeting in Ottawa on Sunday, CTV News reports. If all three parties support the motion and it passes, the Liberal minority government will be defeated, meaning Canadians will go to the polls before Christmas."
This creates a lot of problems for the NDP which relies so heavily on volunteers. The Liberals and Conservatives can afford to have polling done professionally and to pay for postage. NDP campaigns, for the most part, can't afford mailings so 40,000 pieces of literature have to be delivered by hand (if they can afford to do another piece or get one from the central campaign this doubles or triples the amount of labour required). Phone canvassing is also done by volunteers and this is how e-day strategy is determined - it's the only way to determine where support lies. Ideally elections are held in spring or fall when the weather is nice and people are willing to drop leaflets as part of their daily walk routine. No one is going to be prepared to go door to door or make phone calls in December; everyone is already overloaded with family and social commitments. Hammering signs into the hard ground with frozen fingers sucks. Even presuming the campaign can identify support, getting these supporters to the polls will be next to impossible. This timing is a campaign manager's worst nightmare - it's got to be posturing.
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