Canadian ruling party facing opposition's challenge

More than halfway through the 36-day campaign for the June 28 election, Canada's ruling Liberal Party's dream of a fourth straight majority has evaporated as most recent polls show that Canada's Conservative Party may win a majority in the House of Commons if backing for the Liberal Party continues to slide.

According to the poll conducted by Toronto Star between June 7 and June 9, the Conservative, the major opposition party, has 33.8 percent of the vote, commanding a lead in almost every region of the country, compared to the ruling Liberals' 30 percent.

"It is a catastrophe" for Prime Minister Paul Martin, wrote commentator Denis Lessard in Friday's La Presse newspaper, which commissioned the Ekos poll along with the Toronto Star.

The big change is in the "vote rich province" of Ontario where the Conservatives have for the first time pulled ahead of the Liberals. They now stand at 38 percent while the Liberals trail four points behind at 34 percent in the province.

Perhaps buoyed by a series of recent poll numbers, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper began to talk publicly of his party's winning of a majority for the first time in the campaign.

"It is really a surprise that the public support for the Liberals is sliding so fast", A.F. Kraft, who is working in a government department, told this reporter. Analysts here believe that there are some reasons why support for the Liberals are sliding.

The Liberal Party was first and foremost hurt by a financial scandal. The scandal came to light in February this year when Canada's auditor general released a report claiming that as much as 100 million Canadian dollars (about 76 million US dollars) of federal government money had been funneled to advertising firms with close ties to the Liberal Party. The report said the advertising firms did little or no work, yet received millions in pay.

Corruption and misuse were also reported in a series of other government programs such as sponsorship of the 25th anniversary celebrations of Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Indian land claims settlements; and purchase of government VIP jets.

Breaking election promises by the Ontario Liberal government in the 2004-2005 budget has dealt yet another heavy blow to the Liberal Party. The budget introduced by the provincial government in May hiked taxes and forecast a deficit, breaking two key election promises made by the Liberals in the campaign that brought them to power last fall. The budget has resulted in further damage to the credibility of the Liberal Party.

According to the latest poll, in Ontario, which has 106 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, 38 percent say they would vote for the Conservative if the election were held today while 34 percent would support the Liberals.

Political analysts say the Liberal Party was also hurt by a rivalry between Martin and former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who fired Martin as finance minister in June 2002 after Martin refused to stop campaigning for Chretien's job. Martin came to power last December after Chretien announced his retirement from politics.

Frictions within the party resulted in defections. In February, Liberal MP John Bryden quit the party and defected to the Conservatives, accusing Prime Minister Martin of sowing cynicism, failing to deliver on promised reforms and mishandling the crisis over federal sponsorship spending. The Liberal Party received a further blow on June 9 when Liberal Senator Anne Cools announced her defection to the Conservatives.

The Conservative Party was formed in December last year with the merger of the former Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party. Since then, Harper's popularity has been on the rise. Just 45 years old, Harper is a veteran in political circles, and has been the leader of the Official Opposition since 2002. He has promised to cut tax and increase fund for health and defense.

Canadian voters will renew the House of Commons on June 28. The current election campaign is seen here as a two-party race between the Liberals and the Conservatives. The situation is believed to continue in favor of the Conservatives.

Source: Xinhua