Originally posted by: Warbler

But, what would happen if the Government never called for an election? Sounds to me like the Government in power has too much power. They should not decide when elections are to take place. Thank you for your explanation Sybeman.

There is a rough 5-year rule, which is how the Martin Liberals wound up with a minority government. The rule is that the ruling party can call an election any time it pleases, but can only rule for 5 years at a time. The 5 year annivaersary was rapidly approaching, so the Liberals decided to call an election and kinda got screwed. I say kinda because I'm not a fan of the Liberals. Since the election, the government has narrowly avoided a non-confidence vote by forming alliances with the NDP (the real socialists) and independents, and luring centrist Conservatives away from that party. The house of cards is falling now though, and it's only a matter of time before the Liberals are forced to call another election.