Prime Minister Stephen Harper is set to announce four byelections tomorrow, in a move that suggests the Conservatives do not expect the Liberals to be successful in forcing a fall election.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to make the announcement on Sunday.
While the Conservatives are publicly saying they don't expect to win any of the four seats, two of the ridings are believed to be in a play for the party, and may reveal whether the Tories can win a majority government in the next general election.
CTV's Roger Smith reports that the elections will likely be scheduled for Nov. 9.
Two of the ridings are Bloc Quebecois strongholds -- one in Montreal and another in eastern Quebec -- and the Bloc is expected to easily retain those seats.
The other byelections will be in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
The Nova Scotia seat is the riding recently held by independent Bill Casey, who parted with the Tories when he voted against the government in 2007. In B.C., it's the seat formerly held by veteran NDP MP Dawn Black.
The Conservatives are expected to survive any non-confidence motions put forward by the Liberals this fall, due to the NDP signalling they will support the government to ensure employment insurance amendments.
However, with the Liberals seemingly imploding in Quebec after Denis Coderre resigned as the party's chief MP in the province, and the Tories solidifying their national lead in the polls, there has been speculation that Harper might try to engineer his own defeat so he can make another attempt at a majority.
But an official with the party told The Canadian Press that such a scenario is "ridiculous."
"In a minority government, the threat of a general election is always there, but we are interested in governing," he said. "We are not interested in trying to engineer our own defeat."
