Canadian Liberal Government Falls

The opposition parties have defeated the minority Liberal government on a non-confidence motion, and Canada heads into a holiday election campaign. Prime Minister Paul Martin will visit Governor General Michaëlle Jean Tuesday morning and ask her to dissolve Parliament and set an election date sometime in the middle of January.

The wording of the non-confidence motion was simple: "That this House has lost confidence in the government." The vote was 171 for and 133 against. The current standings in the House of Commons are Liberals 133, Conservatives 98, Bloc Québécois 53, NDP 18, and Independents 4. Two seats are vacant.
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