[Rerun]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

We were talking about the 2008 election.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadia...election,_2008

If I remember back in 2008 parliament was totally disfunctional and there was absolutely no cooperation between the CPC and the other parties, which as everyone knows is absolutely crutial in any minority parliament.

Per wikipedia..

May 3, 2007: Bill C-16 receives Royal Assent. This bill states that the next election must be held on October 19, 2009, unless there is an earlier dissolution.

August 26, 2008: Harper indicates he may call an election for the fall of 2008; Parliament could be dissolved as early as the week of September 1–6.

August 29, 2008: Harper meets with Gilles Duceppe, the leader of the Bloc Québécois in an attempt to find common ground between the Bloc and the Conservatives.

August 30, 2008: Harper meets with Jack Layton, the leader of the New Democrats in an attempt to find common ground between the NDP and the Conservatives.

September 1, 2008: Harper meets with Stéphane Dion, the leader of the Liberals, in an attempt to find common ground between the Liberals and the Conservatives, and avert the dissolution of Parliament, allowing the fall session to continue as planned. However, after a twenty-minute meeting at 24 Sussex Drive, the PM's official residence, Dion emerges stating there is no common ground between the two parties, and that an election is certain.

September 5, 2008: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announces that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit the Governor General at 9 am on September 7, 2008 to ask for the dissolution of the 39th Parliament and a general election on October 14, 2008.[23]

September 7, 2008: Prime Minister Harper asks Governor General Michaëlle Jean to call a general election on October 14, 2008. She accepts the request.[24]

Harper tried to work with the other parties but they were intractable. He had no other choice BUT to dissolve parliament.