Get rid of the sham fixed election dates

There seemed to be quite a lot of enthusiasm when Prime Minister Stephen Harper first announced that Canada would have fixed election dates. As it was, Parliament could sit for up to five years before its dissolution and a new election was necessary. In a minority Parliament, the government could fall at any time if it lost the vote on a money bill or on anything else that was deemed by that government to be a matter of confidence. Once the government fell, the Prime Minister would have to go to the Governor General and advise him or her that he could no longer govern. Although the Governor General had the power to ask someone else to form a government the usual practice was to dissolve Parliament and set an election date.