Related: Canadian govt defeated in non-confidence vote

          ;   Paul Martin to call for new election Tuesday

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is applauded after Martin's government was defeated by a no-confidence motion in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Monday Nov. 28, 2005. (Photo: Xinhua)

     OTTAWA, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Canadians are heading for a rare winter election as the Liberal minority government led by Prime Minister Paul Martin was brought down on Monday by a vote of non-confidence.

    The non-confidence motion, introduced by the Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, was passed Monday evening local time by a vote of 171 to 133 with the support of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Bloc Quebecois in the 308-member House of Commons.

    Moments after the vote, Martin called on a boisterous Liberal caucus to get their snowshoes on for the coming election campaign.

    "All of us have a lot to be proud of and I cannot tell you how proud I am of you," he said, while elaborating on what the Liberals have achieved especially in the economic front in the past 12 years of ruling.

    In his caucus address, Harper foresaw a Conservative government would emerge in the election. "Canadians need and they want and deserve a change. And to get that change we need a change in government ... A government that stands up for Canada -- a new Conservative government." He said.

    Harper tabled the non-confidence motion on Thursday following Martin's refusal to the opposition demands to dissolve the 38th Parliament in January and hold election in mid-February.

    The opposition has claimed that the Liberal party lost the moral authority to lead the nation after a judicial report confirmed Liberals were involved in a federal sponsorship scandal earlier this month.

    As a constitutional routine, Martin will ask Governor General Michaelle Jean on Tuesday to dissolve the Parliament for an election.

    The election dates are widely speculated at either January 16 or January 23. It will be the first Christmas campaign in 26 yearsin the country.

    Recent polls have given the Liberals a slight lead over the Conservatives, with the NDP in the third place.

    That means the new election will return another Liberal minority government to power as most observers anticipated.

    The opposition has been taking advantage of the public anger with the sponsorship scandal involving the misuse of about 200 million US dollars targeted for a national unity program in the French-speaking province of Quebec.

    The investigation report, the first of the two, exonerated Martin of any wrongdoing but put most blame on former prime minister Jean Chretien and his senior Liberal members. Martin has repeatedly promised to call an election within 30 days of the release of the final report on the scandal which is due on February 1, meaning an election in April.

    Martin's government was left in a free fall earlier this month when it lost the support of the NDP, whose backing helped Martin to survive the non-confidence motion by a single vote in May this year. Enditem

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