Harper won't speculate on political future
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is refusing to speculate on his political future if he fails to secure a majority government in the May 2 election.
Harper has been asking Conservative crowds across the country to help him win a majority government or else he's warned Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff could team up with the other opposition parties to take control of the government.
Harper was asked during a campaign event in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Tuesday whether he would leave as Conservative leader if he failed to win a majority government.
"I'm not going to take the bite on that one," he told reporters with a smile.
"We're in the election to win and all I can say is serving my party and serving Canadians and my capacity as leader is a great honour. It will always be a great honour, it will be the experience of my life and you know, occasionally you complain about some things, but none of it compares to the tremendous opportunity I've had to do this."
A series of public opinion polls recently have shown the Conservatives have a 10-percentage point lead over the Liberals. However, the edge in popular support is not significant enough to boost the party into a majority territory.
The Conservatives held 143 seats when the election was called compared to 77 Liberals, 47 Bloc Québécois MPs, 36 NDP members and two independents.
A party needs a 155 seats to gain a majority government in the 308-seat House of Commons.
The Conservative leader said he would accept a minority government if that is what voters handed him on May 2.
But Harper continued to warn of the political instability that would be created if he fails to secure a majority government.
"We either [have] a Conservative majority, or it will be a majority cobbled together between the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois," he said.
"Obviously, we think such an alternative would be unstable, would not have a clear direction for the country, particularly on the economy. The only thing they'd be able to agree on are some pretty bad ideas. So we think these are the realistic choices before Canadians. I don't want Canadians to wake up and find they ended up with something different than what they thought they were voting for."
Harper kept former prime minister Paul Martin to a minority government in 2004 and earned a minority government in both 2006 and 2008.
