42nd Canadian federal election
Encyclopedia
The 42nd Canadian federal election is tentatively scheduled for October 19, 2015, in accordance with the stipulations of Bill C-16 which requires that a general election be held on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election, to elect members to the House of Commons
of the 42nd Canadian parliament. This does not in any way diminish the powers of the Queen's representative in Canada
, the governor general
, to call an election at any time, which is conventionally done on the advice
of the incumbent prime minister
.
s that have been conducted since the 2011 Canadian federal election.
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
of the 42nd Canadian parliament. This does not in any way diminish the powers of the Queen's representative in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the governor general
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
, to call an election at any time, which is conventionally done on the advice
Advice (constitutional)
Advice, in constitutional law, is formal, usually binding, instruction given by one constitutional officer of state to another. Especially in parliamentary systems of government, Heads of state often act on the basis of advice issued by prime ministers or other government ministers...
of the incumbent prime minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
.
Timeline
- May 2, 2011: The Conservative Party of CanadaConservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
wins a majority governmentMajority governmentA majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in the 41st Canadian federal election. - May 3, 2011: Gilles DuceppeGilles DuceppeGilles Duceppe is a Canadian politician, and proponent of the Québec sovereignty movement. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons for over 20 years and was the leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois for almost 15 years. He is the son of a well-known Quebec actor, Jean...
resigns as leader and president of the Bloc QuébécoisBloc QuébécoisThe Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
, and Vivian BarbotVivian BarbotVivian Barbot is a teacher, activist, and politician. She is a former President of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, a former Member of Parliament and currently serves as interim president of the Bloc Québécois....
is named as the interim president. - May 25, 2011: Michael IgnatieffMichael IgnatieffMichael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
resigns as leader of the Liberal PartyLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, and Bob RaeBob RaeRobert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
is chosen as interim leader. - June 2, 2011: The 41st Parliament41st Canadian ParliamentThe 41st Canadian Parliament is the current Parliament of Canada, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011...
convenes. - July 25, 2011: Jack LaytonJack LaytonJohn Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
temporarily steps down as leader of the NDP, due to cancer, indicating his intention to return to the job for the reconvening of Parliament in September. Hull—AylmerHull—AylmerHull—Aylmer is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917....
MP Nycole TurmelNycole TurmelNycole Turmel, MP is the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament. She was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2011 federal election, representing the electoral district of Hull—Aylmer, and became interim leader of the New Democratic Party after leader Jack...
is chosen to act as NDP leader during the leave. - August 22, 2011: Jack Layton dies of cancer. Turmel assumes the position of leader of the opposition.
- December 11, 2011: A Bloc Québécois leadership election is to take place to choose a permanent successor to Gilles Duceppe.
- March 24, 2012: A New Democratic Party leadership electionNew Democratic Party leadership election, 2012An election for the leadership of the New Democratic Party , a social democratic party in Canada, will occur on March 24, 2012, as a result of the death of Jack Layton, the party's former leader. The party's executive and caucus set the rules for the campaign at a series of meetings in September 2011...
is to take place. - 2011/2012: A federal by-election in Toronto—DanforthToronto—DanforthToronto—Danforth is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979. It lies to the east of Downtown Toronto....
, due to the death of Jack Layton. - 2012: The distribution of electoral districtsElectoral district (Canada)An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
is considered following the 2011 CensusCanada 2011 CensusThe Canada 2011 Census is a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada—an agency of the Canadian government—conducts a nationwide census every five years...
. - March–June 2013: A Liberal Party leadership election is to take place.
Opinion polls
This table provides a list of scientific, nation-wide public opinion pollOpinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
s that have been conducted since the 2011 Canadian federal election.
| Polling Firm | Date of Polling | Link | Conservative Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum... |
New Democratic New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in... |
Liberal Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative... |
Bloc Québécois Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative... |
Green Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and... |
Margin of Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanos Research | 35.6 | 27.3 | 28.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | ±3.2 pp | ||
| Ipsos Reid | HTML | 37 | 31 | 21 | 6 | 3 | ||
| Harris-Decima Decima Research Decima Research is a public opinion and market research company in Canada, founded in 1979 by Progressive Conservative Party of Canada strategist Allan Gregg.... |
36 | 29 | 22 | 5 | 7 | ±2.2 pp | ||
| Nanos Research | 37.7 | 30.0 | 23.4 | 3.6 | 3.8 | ±3.2 pp | ||
| Nanos Research | 39.0 | 29.0 | 24.5 | 3.5 | 2.9 | ±3.2 pp | ||
| Angus Reid Angus Reid Public Opinion Angus Reid Public Opinion is an international public affairs practice. It was established in 2006 under the name Angus Reid Strategies by Dr Angus Reid, a Canadian sociologist who founded his first research company in 1979. Reid sold the Angus Reid Group to Paris-based Ipsos SA in 2000... |
39 | 29 | 21 | 5 | 4 | ±2.4 pp | ||
| Leger Marketing Léger Marketing Leger Marketing is the largest solely Canadian owned polling and market research firm in Canada with 650 employees, including 103 professionals. Leger Marketing provides access to Canadian and American markets... |
HTML | 39 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 6 | ±2.4 pp | |
| Nanos Research | 39.5 | 33.1 | 20.7 | 2.6 | 3.4 | ±3.2 pp | ||
| Harris-Decima Decima Research Decima Research is a public opinion and market research company in Canada, founded in 1979 by Progressive Conservative Party of Canada strategist Allan Gregg.... |
HTML | 33 | 33 | 21 | 6 | 7 | ±2.2 pp | |
| Abacus Data | 38 | 32 | 19 | 5 | 6 | ±3.2 pp | ||
| Angus Reid Angus Reid Public Opinion Angus Reid Public Opinion is an international public affairs practice. It was established in 2006 under the name Angus Reid Strategies by Dr Angus Reid, a Canadian sociologist who founded his first research company in 1979. Reid sold the Angus Reid Group to Paris-based Ipsos SA in 2000... |
39 | 31 | 19 | 6 | 4 | ±3.1 pp | ||
| Nanos Research | HTML | 36.2 | 26.8 | 27.0 | 4.4 | 4.5 | ±2.8 pp | |
| Abacus Data | 41 | 32 | 17 | 6 | 5 | ±3.2 pp | ||
| Nanos Research | 41.8 | 28.0 | 22.3 | 3.4 | 3.7 | ±3.1 pp | ||
| Nanos Research | 39.7 | 29.9 | 21.5 | 2.7 | 4.8 | ±3.1 pp | ||
| Harris-Decima Decima Research Decima Research is a public opinion and market research company in Canada, founded in 1979 by Progressive Conservative Party of Canada strategist Allan Gregg.... |
HTML | 38 | 33 | 15 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Abacus Data | 40 | 33 | 16 | 6 | 5 | ±2.5 pp | ||
| Election 2011 | HTML | 39.6 | 30.6 | 18.9 | 6.0 | 3.9 |
See also
- Fixed election dates in CanadaFixed election dates in CanadaIn Canada, some Canadian jurisdictions have passed legislation fixing election dates, so that elections occur on a more regular cycle and the date of a forthcoming election is publicly known...
- List of Canadian federal general elections
- List of political parties in Canada