Ottawa

BTC: New hotness

Yesterday’s conventional wisdom: The Prime Minister will ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament late next week, setting up a vote on October 14.

Today’s gossip: October 14 is a Jewish holiday and, so as to avoid a vote on that day, the writ will drop this weekend or the campaign will be longer than originally planned.

Update. From Canadian Press. “Liberal insiders were pointing out Friday that the Tories’ preferred election date of Oct. 14 falls on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. They suggested Mr. Harper may court a backlash from the Jewish community, which he has courted assiduously for two years.

“A PMO official said Sukkot, along with Thanksgiving and several other religious holidays during October, ‘does present challenges’ in choosing an election day. But he noted that people can vote in advance polls if they can’t or don’t want to cast a ballot on election day.”

Update II. From the Globe. “The Canadian Jewish Congress has written a letter to the Prime Minister, warning that holding an election during Sukkot would make it difficult for some Jews to get to the polls and would rob political parties of workers. Mr. Harper also might suffer a backlash from a group of influential voters he has worked hard to court.”

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.