According to various news resources, Prime Minister Harper will call for a federal election this Sunday.  (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/09/04/harper-election.html)  It's not surprising that this coincides with the highest approval rating in the polls for the conservative party thus far.  This is in contradiction with a law passed by this government that sets a hard election date for every four years.  But I feel the following quote by Harper in 2006 shows his hypocrisy:

Quoted Text

"Fixed election dates prevent governments from calling snap elections for short-term political advantage," Harper said. "They level the playing field for all parties and the rules are clear for everybody."
"... fixed election dates stop leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar simply for partisan political advantage."

This is from a 2006 CBC article: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/05/26/fixed-vote-060526.html
Harper is no dummy, though.  He left the "escape clause" for his fixed election dates intentionally vague.  So either he was manipulating us then, or he's manipulating us now.
Speaking of the upcoming election, there were a number of by-elections already underway.  Canceling those in favour of a general election will have wasted roughly $3.5 Million of tax payers' money.  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/09/04/election-bill.html