(Adds Conservative remark on Aug 6 debate being within formal
campaign)
By Randall Palmer and Allison Lampert
OTTAWA/MONTREAL, July 30 (Reuters) - Speculation mounted on
Thursday that Canada's election campaign will formally begin on
Sunday, with the governing Conservatives planning a Montreal
rally on Sunday evening at which Prime Minister Stephen Harper
is expected to speak.
The Conservative campaign spokesman, Kory Teneycke, also
said on CBC television that the first election debate, on Aug 6,
would be within the formal part of the campaign.
While the Oct. 19 date of this year's general election is
fixed, the campaign does not start officially until the prime
minister gives the word.
By law, Harper must do so by Sept. 13, but Conservative
sources said this week that he would likely opt to start early,
possibly the first week of August. ID:nL1N1080Y3
The Conservative Party has announced a rally on Sunday
evening, Aug. 2, in Mount Royal, an electoral district in
Montreal where the Conservatives have a shot at picking up a
seat from the Liberals. Two Conservative sources said Harper
would address the rally.
Adding to the speculation that the campaign is about to
begin, many major Canadian news outlets ran stories on Thursday
suggesting the election will get under way as early as Sunday.
If Harper does makes the move, it would create the longest
election campaign in modern Canadian history, surpassed only by
the first two, in 1867 and 1872.
An early call would partly reflect the fact that unofficial
campaigning has already begun and would also likely benefit the
Conservatives since they have more cash to spend on the election
than the opposition parties.
The formalities of starting an election campaign in Canada
involve Harper going to see Governor General David Johnston, the
representative of Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth, to
have Parliament dissolved and the campaign begin.
The Conservatives have been in power since 2006 and are
running slightly behind or neck and neck with the left-of-center
New Democratic Party (NDP) in opinion polls, with Justin
Trudeau's Liberal Party in third place.
The NDP got wind in its sails from an upset victory in May
in a provincial election in the traditionally conservative,
oil-rich province of Alberta, and the federal NDP announced on
Thursday its second-quarter fundraising had hit a record C$4.5
million ($3.5 million).
That's nearly double its first-quarter tally of C$2.3
million, but short of the Conservatives' first-quarter figure of
C$6.3 million. The Conservatives and Liberals have not released
their second-quarter numbers.
($1=$1.30 Canadian)
(Editing by Peter Galloway)