Paul Martin

He said he would call an election as soon as an inquiry into a cash-for-favors scandal finished its work in December, but the official opposition Conservative Party under Stephen Harper said the country could not be run by a tainted government.

With the Liberals lagging badly in opinion polls, it seemed increasingly likely that opposition parties would topple Martin in May and force a June 27 election. Canada's last election was in June 2004.

The inquiry into the scandal has heard that money from a sponsorship program, designed to promote national unity and counter separatism in French-speaking Quebec, was illegally funneled to Liberal Party members.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 30, 2005
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