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Fixed election dates may have taken the uncertainty out of polling day but we are still none the wiser about when the 42nd Canadian general election will formally commence.

This is important because there are indications that the Conservatives will drop the writ early in an attempt to drain the resources of their relatively impoverished opponents.

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The election is scheduled for Oct. 19, which, given the convention of recent years, would mean a typical campaign should kick off on Sept. 13.

But the 36 day writ period is merely a convention — and a recent one at that.

Since 1997, most elections have been fought over the now-typical five-week period, with the exception of the 11-week 2005-06 campaign that straddled the Christmas break. But, before that, most writ periods were longer, with the 1926 contest lasting 74 days.

The Conservatives are said to have a cunning plan to extend the campaign this time around for their own partisan advantage. The typical 36-day campaign would limit the amount parties are able to spend to $24-million — a level of expenditure the three main parties can afford with a degree of comfort.