Wall asks Harper to change federal election date

Saskatchewan's Premier is asking Prime Minister Stephen Harper to consider changing the 2015 federal election date, because it conflicts with Saskatchewan's election that year.

Both Saskatchewan and Canada follow a fixed election-date system, where voters must head to the polls on a specific day four years after the previous election.

In Saskatchewan, that day is the first Monday of November. The province re-elected Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party government with a large majority on Nov. 7 of this year, which means its next election is scheduled for Nov. 2, 2015.

However, federal legislation calls for national elections to happen the third week in October, four years after the previous election. Because Harper's Conservative government was elected with a majority on May 2, 2011, that sets the next federal election for Oct. 19, 2015.

Wall doesn't want two campaigns happening in Saskatchewan at the same time, so he is asking Harper to reschedule the federal election for earlier in the year.

There is nothing in Saskatchewan or federal legislation preventing the government from calling the election prior to the fixed date.

The Premier's office says the Saskatchewan government has a "strong preference" for a November provincial election.

It notes that if the federal election happens in Oct., 2015, it will conflict with four other provinces and a territory with fixed election dates as well.