Cut and paste
The 39th Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-16, An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act, which received Royal Assent on May 3, 2007.[2] It requires that each general election take place on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the previous poll, starting with October 19, 2009.[3][4][5] During the legislative process, the Liberal-dominated Senate added an amendment listing conditions under which an election date could be modified, in order to avoid clashes with religious holidays, municipal elections, and referenda, but the House of Commons, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives, rejected the amendment and the Senate did not pursue it.[6]
When introducing the legislation, Harper stated that "fixed election dates prevent governments from calling snap elections for short-term political advantage. They level the playing field for all parties and the rules are clear for everybody."[7] However, despite the amendments to the legislation, the prime minister is still free to request an election at any time. As the Bill C-16 amendments to the Canada Elections Act clearly state "Nothing in this section affects the powers of the Governor General, including the power to dissolve Parliament at the Governor General's discretion", the change effectively altered only the maximum duration of a parliament by ensuring that it ends no later than October of the fourth calendar year after its commencement, while leaving the possibility of an earlier end unaffected.[4]
This situation was illustrated by the dissolution of parliament at PM Harper's request on September 7, 2008. This led Democracy Watch to initiate proceedings in federal court against the Crown-in-Council, the Prime Minister of Canada, and the Governor General of Canada, challenging the decision to call an election prior to the fixed election date. Judge Michel M.J. Shore dismissed the matter, saying the applicants who launched the suit "do not demonstrate a proper understanding of the separation of powers," since "[t]he remedy for the applicant's contention is not for the Federal Court to decide, but rather one of the count of the ballot box".[8] The court effectively found that the fixed election dates were not binding on the prime minister or legally enforceable by the courts.
With elections being held in October 2008 (after an early election call) and May 2011 (after a vote of non-confidence on a contempt of Parliament motion),[9][10][11] the 41st parliament was the first to reach its maximum life under the revised law.
Fixed election dates - every 4 years - were a terrible idea, brought in to make Canada more like the USA (of course, because the Cons were in charge). It is incompatible with a parliamentary system. Fixed 4 years might work for the yanks, but they have a presidency separate from the Senate and the House of Reps, and even in the US, plus they use primaries to determine who is even running for each party.
In Canada, having governments call elections at opportune times was never the sure-fire thing that Harper portrayed it to be. First of all, there was always the upper limit of 5 years between elections. Second,there is no predicting what the public will do on election day, especially if they feel irritated at the idea they're being taken for granted or manipulated - many a government went into an election fully expecting a sure win, only to end up defeated at some level.
More importantly, the thing the fixed date does in the real-life is really stretch out how much time the public is bombarded with campaigning - the 2015 election was officially one of the longest campaigns ever, but on top of that there was double or triple the amount of time wasted on unofficial campaigning. All the stupid bullshit ads from supposedly "non-partisan" groups that spring up like mushrooms, all the strange behavior and policies, designed to provoke or promote certain sectors of the electorate, and so on. It is sickening just how much pointless political noise there is, because they are out there either fundraising or pandering - the sleazy followed by the stupid.
Canada used to have more immunity against this nonsense, because elections could happen at any moment so political parties would just hoard their cash reserves and couldn't plan out their "narratives" years in advance. More work got done, and the politicians needed to rack up a record of actual accomplishments, even in opposition. There was little talk of an "election year" - election campaigns were maybe 1-2 months, and even if you counted the unofficial pre-campaign campaign with it, maybe 3 or 4 months at most.
Fixed election dates instead switched Canada into a system of what people call "the permanent campaign". Spin all the time. Fundraising all the time. (Let's face it: BULLSHIT ALL THE TIME.) The parties that can afford the longest most drawn-out period of bulshitting are the ones who, of course, have the richest coffers, the most high-rolling donors. And for every official donation to a party, twice as much goes from the big donors to various obviously partisan "concerned citizen" groups that somehow have the same playbook as the parties they don't officially represent.
They can create a permanent machine of political spin, and that shadowy unelected machine tends to dominate over elected MP's and cabinet ministers. The MP's obey the narrative, instead of the narrative obeying the MP's. Power is held more and more by those who work in the machine; your elected MP's are reduced to being sock puppets who just mouth whatever they are told to, and make decisions based on what is the best angle for fundraising.
You'll see it again this time, when you see how 2019 goes. Already late last year they were talking "election year", and concerning themselves too much with "optics". It is already a given that - barring a natural or man-made disaster, you'll see nothing but campaigning - and all the phony posturing, hysteria, and outright disinformation that the public has already gotten sick of.
No, the election hasn't officially started, but thanks to the fixed date, the unofficial campaign is already on. In fact, it never seems to go away anymore.
