A bitter winter election campaign begins Tuesday after the minority Liberal government collapsed on a vote of non-confidence supported by a united opposition.
There was little crackling drama in the 171-133 vote. The combined Conservative-Bloc-NDP signalled over two weeks ago that Paul Martin's Liberals were doomed.
Cheering MPs tossed sheets of paper into the air as the vote result was announced.
Martin seems determined to use Canada's robust economy and fiscal health - the envy of much of the world - as a key plank of the Liberal platform in the coming federal election.
Equally clear is the fact the opposition won't likely let him claim much credit for the county's healthy growth.
Yet voters have likely become so accustomed to these good times of low inflation, cheap interest rates and solid job creation that they won't care much either way, warns one analyst.
Still, Martin has given notice that, in the coming campaign, he intends to play to his perceived strengths: a reputation as a sound fiscal manager, cultivated during a decade-run as the country's finance minister
