Reply #5: The short answer is, there will be an election in January

[daleo]

The longer answer is:

The last parliament was quite evenly split between four parties. None had a majority of seats, but the Liberal Party had the most. However, the other three parties could outvote them if they banded together. Eventually they did just that (today), and passed a non-confidence motion, which is just what it says - a motion stating that the governing party doesn't have the confidence of parliament. At that point, the PM goes to the governor general (a mostly ceremonial position) and asks for an election to be called. This almost always happens, although in principle the GG can ask the other parties to try to form a government.

Which means Canadians are now stuck with a mid-winter election, only 18 months since the last election. Voters are often inclined to punish the party or parties they consider responsible for causing an election before voters really want one. So, this might backfire on the opposition. But, obviously, they wouldn't agree with me, or they wouldn't have forced an election.