Canada holds parliamentary election

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Canadians have begun voting, a day after Stephen Harper, the prime minister, made a final appeal for a "strong, stable, Conservative majority government".

Monday's parliamentary election appeared to be too close to call, with the ruling Conservatives and the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) considered the front-runners.

Opinion polls show that the Conservatives, led by Harper, are set to win the most seats in the 308-seat House of Commons, but may well fall short of securing an outright majority.

The Conservatives have been in power since early 2006, forming two succesive minority governments, which had forced them to seek opposition support for key bills. The party insists that it needs a majority in order to keep taxes low and to secure Canada's recovery from the global economic crisis.

Harper has said that if his party falls short of its goal, the centre-left opposition, consisting of the NDP and the Liberals, will form a "dangerous" coalition that will destroy the Canadian economy.

The NDP has been running a strong second in the polls, promising hikes in corporate taxes, increased social spending and a new cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions.

"The risk, a very real risk if we do not get a majority, is a New Democrat-led government promising the moon and soon seeing the consequences - raising taxes, killing jobs, setting families back ... and sooner rather than later, yet another election," Harper told a rally in Atlantic Canada on Sunday.

Close race

The Conservatives could benefit from vote-splitting between the NDP and their Liberal rivals. If they do manage to eke out a majority, they would be able to secure a four-year term in power for their prime minister.
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