Canada to go to the polls in October

Ottawa

PRIME Minister Stephen Harper will fire the starting gun early on Canada's election campaign amid polls showing that his Conservative government's nine-year reign is threatened by a leftist party that's never held power nationally.

Mr Harper, 56, was to meet Governor General David Johnston, Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Canada, on Sunday, according to a statement released late on Saturday by the prime minister's office. Mr Harper is expected to request the dissolution of parliament, which would mark the formal start of campaigning for an Oct 19 vote, making it the longest electoral contest since 1872.