No, we do not need a federal election right now, especially given we will have one in two years time.
Yes, we will probably have one anyway.
We do not need an election because, in the broadest sense, the choices have altered little since 2008 when Canadians last went to the polls, and the opposition parties — Liberal and NDP — have shown us that there is no alternative.
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper remains widely popular. Jack Layton’s New Democrats are still trying to refashion a place for themselves in the ideological spectrum.
While the Liberals have a new leader in Michael Ignatieff, as a party they have far less to say than they did last year when Stéphane Dion was at the helm.
In 2008 we had an unnecessary election because Harper thought he could upgrade his government from minority to majority status. He failed.
Now, we face the possibility of an unnecessary election because Ignatieff and Layton think they can feather their nests.
We shall see if they are correct. I highly doubt it.
William Perry
Victoria