Yorkton-Melville Member of Parliament Garry Breitkreuz says he is not happy to see the country going back to the polls on May 2, but he is ready to campaign for his seat.
"We need stability right now," says the MP. "The economy's fragile, and without that budget coming through soon, it's going to be a challenge in this country."
While the three opposition parties were all prepared to decline the budget, the motion that actually brought down the government on Friday was a non-confidence vote forwarded by the Liberal Party finding the Conservatives in contempt of parliament. It was only the fifth non-confidence vote in Canadian history and the first time a Commonwealth government has been held in contempt of parliament.
The contempt motion, originally recommended by the Speaker of the House and later by a Commons committee, was based on the Conservatives' refusal to disclose information about the costs of their justice reform legislation, their purchase of F-35 fighter jets, and their corporate tax cuts.
Breitkreuz dismisses the decision, which was maneuvered to be held just before the budget vote, as a way for the opposition to "distract the country."
"They always say, 'Where there's smoke, there might be fire.' Well, there's really no fire here at all. In fact, if you blow away the smoke, the issue that they're trying to drum up has no substance to it at all."
The MP prefers to focus on the Conservatives' budget, which would have brought down the government had a vote on it been held.
"We actually had a very good budget, and I thought we would get support for it," says the MP. "I'm quite surprised that at least one of the opposition parties didn't vote with us."
While the Liberals "said no before they even read it," according to Breitkreuz, he had anticipated support from the NDP, who met with the Conservatives prior to the budget's submission to have some of their requests implemented.
As for the coming election campaign, Breitkreuz says he has his volunteers and finances mostly in place.
"We'll put on a good campaign, as we always have."
"I hope," adds the MP, "that we'll be able to focus on the issues - that things don't get personal in the riding and across the country."
