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Early elections in Ottawa; Migrants stay home in Sasabe, Mexico; Hurricanes bash Haiti; and more ...

Ottawa

Early elections: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper this week called early elections, saying that the intransigence of the opposition parties had made the current Parliament “dysfunctional.” Next month’s national election will be Canada’s third in just over four years. In 2006, Harper’s Conservative Party took over the government, but with a plurality, not a majority. He hopes that holding elections now, while his popularity is relatively high, will give him the margin he needs to get laws passed. In a recent poll, 50 percent of Canadians said Harper should remain prime minister, while just 20 percent preferred Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion. Still, calling the election now, a year before it’s required, is risky—given Canada’s falling economy.

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