New Democratic Party

Canada PM calls Oct 19 election, focus on sluggish economy

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on August 2 called a parliamentary election for Oct 19, kicking off a marathon 11-week campaign likely to focus on a stubbornly sluggish economy and his decade in power.

Polls indicate that Harper's right-of-center Conservative Party, which has been in office since 2006, could well lose its majority in the House of Commons.