Neither of Canada's two main opposition parties will rule out forcing a federal election this week, as the Liberals reel from damaging testimony at the public inquiry into the sponsorship program.

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe says his party is still evaluating its options as it decides whether to introduce a non-confidence motion during budget debate Thursday.

"The question is, does the government still have the confidence of the population?" Duceppe said on the weekend. "In Quebec, it's very clear it's not the case, so we'll see if it is the case in the rest of Canada."

Conservative MP Jason Kenney: 'We're not going to let the separatists control the timing of the next election.'
Conservative MP Jason Kenney: 'We're not going to let the separatists control the timing of the next election.'

Even before the Bloc has a chance to introduce its motion, the Liberals must survive their own budget implementation motion on Tuesday, so there are two chances for Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government to fall.

If the Bloc decides to move against the government on Thursday, Conservative MP Jason Kenney says his party would help the Liberals vote down the motion.

"We're not going to let the separatists control the timing of the next election," he said.




But the Conservatives would reserve the right to move a non-confidence motion of their own against the Liberals soon afterward, Kenney added.

Canadians last went to the polls less than a year ago, on June 28, 2004.

Poll shows Liberal support dropping

Liberal MP David Kilgour outside his Ottawa home.
Liberal MP David Kilgour outside his Ottawa home.

Election fever may be fed by poll results released Monday in the Toronto Star.

The EKOS Research Associates survey was conducted after Thursday's release of evidence from the Gomery inquiry suggested an ad firm in Quebec made big donations to the Liberal party and hired Liberal supporters in return for government contracts.

EKOS said the Liberals have 25 per cent support among polled Canadians, compared to 36.2 per cent for Stephen Harper's Conservatives and 20.5 per cent for Jack Layton's New Democratic Party. The Bloc, which fields candidates only in Quebec, has 12.5 per cent support.

Martin's Liberals had 40 per cent support in an EKOS poll conducted in February.

The latest survey of 1,125 adults is considered accurate to within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Party could lose MPs over allegations

The latest sponsorship revelations led one Liberal MP from Edmonton to attack his own party on the weekend.

David Kilgour said he may cross the floor and join the Conservatives rather than continue to be associated with his scandal-plagued party.

After Kilgour went public with his distaste over the Gomery inquiry testimony, Kenney told reporters that two more Liberal MPs may be ready to quit the party as well.

The Liberals hold 133 seats in the 308 seat House of Commons, the Conservatives have 99, the Bloc 54 and the NDP 19. There are two Independents and one seat is vacant.

More Gomery inquiry testimony this week could further damage the Liberals' image.

Jacques Corriveau, a close personal friend of former prime minister Jean Chrétien and a longtime Liberal fundraiser, may appear at the sponsorship inquiry as early as Wednesday.

Former Groupaction executive Jean Brault has testified that Corriveau asked him to hire Liberal communications expert Serge Gosselin in return for contracts from the federal government.