“The vote on the fiscal update will be a confidence measure, which means if every opposition MP votes against it, Harper could ask the Governor General to call an election. Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, for her part, could grant that request or she could simply ask the Liberals to form a government if they could get the support of the BQ and NDP. Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale said it was premature to speak about a coalition government.”
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“Only one Governor General has ever denied a prime minister's request for an election. In 1926, Lord Byng of Vimy turned down then-prime minister William Lyon MacKenzie King when he wanted to go to the polls and instead asked Conservative leader Arthur Meighen to form a government, which he did.”