Thus, if [Stephen Harper] wants an election now, it is not because he fears that he will be unable to govern or because this Parliament has become, as he puts it, "dysfunctional." Indeed, the closest the House has come to dysfunction was a result of the deliberate tactics of Conservatives aimed at subverting parliamentary committees and especially those looking into the conduct of Harper's ally, Brian Mulroney, and the conduct of Conservative officials in the 2006 election.

. The tactics of the bully are Harper's stock-in-trade but in this case bullying may mask uncertainty and unease. And therein may lie the key: if Harper calls a general election before September, four federal byelections, already scheduled, will be automatically cancelled. Since the Conservatives seem increasingly fearful of the byelection results, cancelling them could spare the government bad news.

In short,. Harper appears to be a slightly panicked politician who wants an election at the earliest possible moment to achieve the least possible political damage. In the final analysis he is playing precisely the political game his "fixed date" election was supposed to prevent. He now claims that a "fixed date" for elections is not feasible under conditions of minority government. Politicians may pray that public memories will be short, but was it not his minority government which enacted it?