Fixed Date Elections

lNmoDUCTIONF or most people, Friday afternoon signals the end of a five~day workweek.Computers are shut down for the weekend, voice mail is turned on, and office lights are shut off.Some workers even leave a little early to get a head~start on traffic.But 20 April 2007 was not just any Friday in Manitoba's political circles-unbeknownst to just about everyone except Premier Gary Doer and his closest advisors.That was the day Mr. Doer called Manitoba's 39 th general election, capitalizing on a longstanding rule that allows the governing party to unilaterally select an election date.Incumbent political parties hold a massive tactical advantage over their opponents in jurisdictions that allow the government to set its own election date.Unfortunately, as history shows, that advantage is frequently employed in a less~than .. altruistic manner.This has led several provinces and the federal government to remove the incumbent's power to arbitrarily set election dates.Questions about its constitutionality have been raised, but it is argued fixed date election legislation-which sets a maximum duration for Parliament, at the expiry of which an election will be held-is distinct from the sphere of power guaranteed to the Lieutenant Governor and Governor General.The law is constitutionally sound, and as a result Manitoba should move to adopt fixed date election legislation as a means of restoring a measure of fairness, transparency and improved governance to the electoral process. II.