Will Harper Call Federal Election in September?

This is from CityNews.
I am a bit surprised that Harper would call an election when the polls do not show him winning a majority. Another minority government will hardly be much more amenable to helping out the Conservatives than this one. In fact Harper is surely wrong in saying that the opposition has been all that much of a barrier to Harper getting legislation through parliament. The Liberals have invariably supported the government. Harper seems to brook no opposition even in committees. He is beginning to look like a control freak. Voters should take note of this facet of his character before voting for him. Hold your nose and vote NDP!


P.M. Will Call Federal Election In September: Source
Friday August 22, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
It's not necessarily the word you want to hear on the first day after you get back to work and school on the morning after Labour Day: election.
A highly placed source within the Conservative Party says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is tantalizingly close to pulling the trigger on his own government and sending you to the polls in October.
The unnamed confidant claims the Tory boss could make the decision as early as September 2nd, one day after the holiday weekend and the time most people consider it's back to business as usual.
Ironically, it may be anything but what's usual in Ottawa. Parliament won't return until September 15th and there's a chance Harper won't even wait for the gathering of the enemy.
"There was some buzz Friday that Sept. 5 might be shaping up as the preferred date," the official told the Canadian Press. "The chances (of an election) have never been so good."
There's also the possibility Harper could wait until the House of Commons is back in session, but either way it may not be long before the vote - and the endless campaign that accompanies it - will be in motion.
What will determine if Harper decides to play a winner-take-all game of chicken with Liberal leader Stephane Dion? The P.M. apparently plans to meet with the opposition parties to see if there's any chance the government will be able to carry out its agenda.
If the NDP, Bloc and the Liberals hint they plan to stand in his way and create what Harper has previously referred to as a 'dysfunctional Parliament,' he may decide to immediately dismantle his minority government and try for a fresh mandate from the voters.
"We're not saying yes, we're not saying no," the source hedges.
If it happens, it's a risky move. Harper has conceded that whoever wins will still have to contend with a minority, and we could simply be going through this again and again until that changes, Few of these precarious holds on power last as long as the current one has and that's only because Dion may not feel voters have accepted him.
His Green Shift plan, which involves taxes for those who aren't environmentally friendly, has generated controversy and Harper may see that as the Liberal Achilles' Heel. Recent polls have put the parties in a virtual dead heat in vote rich Ontario, a province both need to win if either hopes for a majority.
To no one's surprise, the opposition isn't impressed by the threat.
"If he pulls the plug on the Parliament without even having the members of the House come back to their seats and show what they can do, then he's showing contempt for the democratic institutions and for the fact that Canadians did not elect him to a majority government, only to a minority," comments NDP Leader Jack Layton.
If it's called, the election would follow within 30-45 days. It always falls on a Tuesday. The next scheduled federal vote, according to the fixed date law, isn't due until October 2009.
But the early date may also have another bonus that won't be in place if Harper waits. It will keep the election from clashing with the U.S. campaign, which many Canadians say interests them far more than the one here.