Time for All Canadians to go home..

and vote :o)

I think Gypsy is already in the air..

A spokesman for the prime minister's office confirmed that Mr Harper will meet with the country's governor general jusr after 8am and will call the early election shortly after.

Mr Harper has led a Conservative minority government since January 2006, one of the longest-lived minorities ever in Canada. The Conservatives have 127 seats in the 308 seat House of Commons and the prime minister says he is calling the election because parliament has stopped working.

"The real reason for calling the election is the economy is weak and they want to strike now while they feel a majority is within their grasp. Stephen Harper is also facing a weak opponent," says David Nayman a journalism professor at Ryerson University in Toronto.

The Conservative's main opposition is the Liberal Party, led by an ascetic academic, Stephane Dion, a dual citizen of France and Canada.

Mr Dion staked out his main policy, the Green Shift, which concentrates on fighting global warming.

"There is a gulf of difference between this very right wing government and what we want to do for a richer, fairer, greener Canada," said Mr Dion.

In spite of being from Quebec, Mr Dion is not popular in his home province.

The Conservatives are hoping to make a breakthrough there. Even winning 30 of Quebec's 75 parliamentary seats would probably give the Conservatives a majority.