--- description: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called an election in a bid to start the longest Canadian election campaign since Victorian times title: The Canadian Prime Minister Has Called a General Election image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd83ddab12935bc6c/69885d855f570f5f9db1cb84/482279812.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Canadian Prime Minister Has Called a General Election ## Video: Canadians Not Thrilled Kanye West To Close Pan Am Games [Watch (HLS stream): Canadians Not Thrilled Kanye West To Close Pan Am Games](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zydDtoWB.m3u8) (0:58)  _Published 2015-07-16. Kanye West, Pitbull and Serena Ryder will play out the Pan American Games in Toronto during the closing ceremony July 26, but the Yeezy announcement isn’t going over well for some._ by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 3, 2015 5:35 AM CUT  Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister, smiles after a Bloomberg Television interview in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on July 29, 2015 Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister, smiles after a Bloomberg Television interview in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on July 29, 2015Patrick Doyle—Bloomberg Finance LP via Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 3, 2015 5:35 AM CUT Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called a general election in 78 days’ time — his nation’s longest campaign period since Victorian times. Harper officially dissolved Parliament Sunday after a visit to the country’s Governor General, the [Associated Press](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ed9db3641a4f4da1813dd2f6fd815705/canada-pm-triggers-election-vote-october "undefined") reports. Polls are due Oct. 19. The Conservative Party of Canada leader is vying for a fourth term in power. “This is no time for risky plans that could harm our future,” Harper said in a statement. “It is time to stay the course and stick to our plan.” The economy and terrorism threats are likely to define the election campaigns, the [_Guardian_ reports](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/02/canada-national-election-stephen-harper "undefined"). The Canadian economy has been rocked by this year’s dramatic global drop in oil prices and subsequent devaluation of the Canadian dollar. There has been constant speculation over whether the country will soon enter a [recession](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/15/canada-economy-recession-dollar "undefined"). Canada also faced a handful of terrorism threats this year, including a [gunman attack](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-shooting-a-day-of-chaos-leaves-soldier-gunman-dead-1.2808710 "undefined") on the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, the country’s capital. The New Democratic Party (NDP), currently in opposition, is expected to be the most serious challenger to Harper’s Conservatives; the Liberal Party, headed by Justin Trudeau, son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, looks set for third place on current polling. “We will kick-start the economy and get Canadians back to work,” said Thomas Mulcair, the leader of the NDP, according to the _Guardian_. “This is our No. 1 priority.” Analysts are expecting a minority government regardless of who ends up getting the most votes, the AP reports. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ed9db3641a4f4da1813dd2f6fd815705/canada-pm-triggers-election-vote-october "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3981742/canada-prime-minister-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3981742/canada-prime-minister-election/"},"headline":"The Canadian Prime Minister Has Called a General Election","datePublished":"2015-08-03T05:35:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:50:01.724Z","description":"Stephen Harper is vying for a fourth term in power","url":"https://time.com/3981742/canada-prime-minister-election/","keywords":["Canada","Justin Trudeau"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd83ddab12935bc6c/69885d855f570f5f9db1cb84/482279812.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd83ddab12935bc6c/69885d855f570f5f9db1cb84/482279812.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"482279812","caption":"Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister, smiles after a Bloomberg Television interview in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on July 29, 2015","creditText":"Patrick Doyle—Bloomberg Finance LP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3981742/canada-prime-minister-election/","name":"The Canadian Prime Minister Has Called a General Election"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Canadians Not Thrilled Kanye West To Close Pan Am Games","description":"Kanye West, Pitbull and Serena Ryder will play out the Pan American Games in Toronto during the closing ceremony July 26, but the Yeezy announcement isn’t going over well for some.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zydDtoWB/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-16T15:05:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zydDtoWB.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3981742/canada-prime-minister-election/","duration":"PT58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3981742/canada-prime-minister-election/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```