User:Soulscanner/Sandbox/2008 Canadian parliamentary dispute

Background
Canada's system of government works on the principle of Responsible Government and Parliamentary confidence. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are responsible to the elected House of Commons in Parliament, meaning that they can be removed at anytime by a majority vote of non-confidence. A government must therefore be able to secure a majority of votes in the elected House to govern. A majority government, in which one party retains the majority of seats in the House, generally maintains this confidence for its full five year term. But a minority government, in which the governing party only has a plurality of seats, must secure the votes of Opposition parties in order the govern. If the government loses a vote of confidence, the Prime Minister can resign or formally ask the Governor General to dissolve the House and call an election. However, to maintain the stability of Parliament in the case of a recently elected House, the Governor General may ask the Leader of the Opposition to form a government if he or she has a good chance of securing Parliamentary confidence.

The 39th Canadian Parliament was led by a Conservative minority government headed by Stephen Harper, and lasted for two years with the support or abstention of opposition parties, until, on September 7, 2008, the Prime Minister requested, and was granted, a dissolution of parliament and a snap election, claiming that parliament had become dysfunctional and needed a renewed mandate. During the election campaign, publicity for strategic voting came from the Liberals, the Green Party, and the Anything But Conservative (ABC) campaign, foreshadowing the political divide that would become official weeks after the federal election, held on October 14. The final tally saw an increase in the Conservative seat count from 127 to 143, a plurality but not a majority, while the Liberals, led by Stéphane Dion, returned as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, with 77 seats. Two other parties, the New Democratic Party (NDP), with 37 seats, and the Bloc Québécois, with 49 seats, together with two independent members of parliament, rounded out the House of Commons.