Stephen Harper's second government has gone to meet its maker.
The governing Conservative Party fell today on a confidence motion that passed 156 to 145 in the House of Commons, with the opposition Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois voting to bring them down.
The motion, moved by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, said the Conservative Party was in contempt of Parliament because it did not disclose to a Parliamentary committee the costs of its tough-on-crime agenda, nor corporate tax cuts or plans to purchase new fighter jets from Lockheed Martin.
A confidence motion expresses members' trust in the ability of the ruling party to govern Canada. With the success of the motion for the opposition, the House expresses its lack of confidence in its ability to run the country.
The move therefore sets the political parties into Canada's third election since 2006, when the Conservatives were voted into their first minority government, toppling a Liberal monopoly in the House of Commons that had lasted since 1993.
From there has followed a tumultuous five years with a government constantly on the brink of falling because it doesn't hold the balance of power in the House. Canada last went to an election in 2008, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked the Governor General to dissolve the government over concerns that Parliament had become dysfunctional.
West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, one of Canada's biggest ridings including the communities of West Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler, has thus far seen four candidates declare their intentions to contest the election here.
John Weston, the Conservative incumbent, was first elected in the 2008 election after also contesting the riding in 2006. He has an electoral rival in Daniel Veniez, the Liberal candidate, and Terry Platt, who will be running for the NDP. The Green Party of Canada lists Brennan Wauters as a candidate in this riding.
