Lowell Murray wants to repeal the fixed election date law:
Therefore, honourable senators, I conclude — and some of us concluded in advance, when Bill C-16 was before us — that the law supposedly establishing fixed election dates in this country is literally “non sense;” it is a nullity. To borrow the memorable words of Mr. Bumble from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist: “The law” — that law — “is an ass.”
…
The bill that we passed into law is a facade. It is misleading; I would almost say it was intended to mislead. In any case, it is of no force or effect.
Some of us made this point at the time:
In the end, what this bill amounts to is a promise by a majority government not to engineer an election for four years, unless circumstances make it necessary to do so. As far as I can tell, this is not a departure from current practice, but an endorsement of it. In which case, all Harper is proposing to do is shorten the standard term from five years to four.
(Thanks to Stephen MacLean for the heads up)
