NDP Leader Jack Layton says Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems "intent on quitting his job" and triggering a federal election in the coming days.
Layton added Saturday, "I intend to apply for his job." But asked if an election was inevitable, he said he would let Harper answer that one.
The two men met at 24 Sussex Drive, the prime minister's official residence, to discuss the upcoming parliamentary session.
Layton told reporters the NDP had four key areas to address in Parliament:
- The economy
- The health care system
- The environment
- Food security and the listeriosis crisis
"As prime minister, I told I would have been convening the leaders to figure out how we work on these key issues," he said, adding if Harper does trigger an election, he can explain his failure to act on those issues to Canadians.
Layton said, "I got no sense the prime minister is prepared to do what I would do if I were prime minister."
Kory Teneycke, a Harper spokesperson, told reporters after Layton spoke that the NDP had consistently voted non-confidence in the government over the past session.
"It's not a surprise that on the main issues of the day, he does not have the same approach that the government does, and that there's very little room for common ground," he said.
However, Harper hadn't made a decision yet on asking the governor general to drop the writ, Teneycke said.
Duceppe
Harper held a similar, hour-long meeting with Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe at 24 Sussex Drive on Friday. Duceppe emerged saying it appears likely that Harper intends to have an election.
"I think his plan is made," said Duceppe -- who went straight to an election-style rally in Gatineau, Que. after the meeting.
Dmitri Soudas, a Harper spokesperson, said that Duceppe indicated in the meeting that he had no confidence in the government.
Later that day, Harper's aides indicated the prime minister is likely to call an election to be held on Oct. 14 -- which overlaps with a major Jewish holiday.
A centrepiece of Tory democratic reform initiatives in the last election was a law fixing election dates to be held every four years, with the first scheduled for October 2009. Harper has argued that the law only really applies in a majority-government situation.
"He wants an election in the best interests of his party," Duceppe said of Harper.
One constitutional law expert said any move by Harper to unilaterally trigger an election could trigger a court action.
"There is no loophole in the law for Mr. Harper, and it absolutely does not have any relevance to minority government," University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes told Â鶹´«Ã½ on Friday.
Parliament is set to return on Sept. 15, and three byelections are scheduled to take place on Sept. 8.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has said he can't meet with Harper until after those byelections. The Liberals are expected to do well in all three.
"We take that as evidence that Mr. Dion does not want to talk to the prime minister about any common ground," Teneycke said.
Analysts say Harper wants to trigger a general election before the byelections go ahead and to avoid political storm clouds building on the horizon. That would likely mean an election would be called on Sept. 5 or 6.
As a further sign of a looming campaign, the Tories released some pre-campaign TV ads on Thursday.
Rather than trying to attack Dion, the ads show a softer side of Harper, albiet one with a firm hand on the nation's rudder.
With files from The Canadian Press
