The federal New Democrats are ready for a prolonged fight if the election campaign hammer drops this weekend, according to a regional Opposition MP.
"There's now a pretty consistent rumour out of Ottawa that Stephen Harper, I think in a form of desperation, is looking to call what may be the longest election in 90 years for Canadians," said Skeena-Bulkley Valley rep Nathan Cullen.
If those rumours hold to be true and the Prime Minister heads to Rideau Hall this weekend to ask Gov. Gen. David Johnston to dissolve Parliament, Canadians could head to the polls anytime between Sept. 7 and Oct. 19. And if the fixed election date of Oct. 19 is held, that would make for an 11-week campaign, twice the length of a mandated writ period.
And though Cullen said the federal NDP could easily weather a long campaign, he didn't mince words about the potential consequence of such a prolonged effort.
"This is absolute hubris and will actually cost Canadian taxpayers tens of millions of dollars more just to run the election just because Mr. Harper wants it that way," Cullen said. "I think voters will see this for what it is, which is the Prime Minister trying to play any advantage he can to win. The Conservatives have cheated in every election that they've won, through overspending, through robocalls, through everything. So this is just another version of them trying to rig the game in their favour."
Within the last couple of weeks, Conservative MPs in the region have been busy making the rounds with funding announcements.
Prince George-Peace River MP Bob Zimmer was in Prince George July 17 to promote a federal contribution of $470,000 to an erosion mitigation project in Lower College Heights and Thursday released information regarding $50,000 for the Central B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum.
The money, from the Enabling Accessibility Fund, will go towards building a display pavilion including an accessibility ramp and walking deck to house historical railcars.
"It is clear that the museum cares about accessibility in our region and with projects like On Board... Making History Accessible we can see first hand how they are making a real difference for friends and visitors of Prince George," Zimmer said in a press release.
