By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Angry opposition parties are set to vote Canada's ruling Conservatives out of office on Friday and trigger an election in a risky gamble that they can claw back a widening gap in opinion polls.
The Conservatives, in power since 2006 with two successive minority governments, are riding high. Polls show Prime Minister Stephen Harper will hold on to power in an early May election and most likely strengthen his position.
The three opposition parties say Harper has to go because of a series of ethical scandals facing his government, which they say is mismanaging the economy and is overly secretive.
"After five years of Conservative government, it is time to say enough is enough," said Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the main official opposition Liberal Party.
This week, a parliamentary committee slapped the government with the first contempt ruling in Canada's history, saying the Conservatives had hidden the full costs of a spending program.
"A government that breaks the rules and conceals facts from the Canadian people does not deserve to remain in office," Ignatieff told the House of Commons, attacking "a government out of touch and out of control".
Pollsters Ipsos Reid on Thursday released a survey showing 43 percent of voters back the Conservatives.
If that number holds, it is likely more than enough for Harper to win his first majority of seats in the 308-seat House of Commons and secure a four-year term in office.
The Conservatives say an election is the last thing Canadians need at a time when the economy is outshining those of most industrialized nations but is still fragile as it recovers from recession.
"I'm saddened that a Parliament which has accomplished a lot recently will come to an end because of the reckless actions of the (opposition) ... in forcing an unwanted and unnecessary election on Canadians," government minister John Baird told legislators.
Parliament votes on a motion of nonconfidence in the government at around 1:30 p.m. EDT (5:30 p.m. British time). All three opposition parties have said they will vote in favour, launching Canada into its fourth election in less than seven years.
Only Conservatives or the Liberals can realistically win and both stress the need for fiscal austerity and the importance of paying down Canada's record budget deficit.
The Liberals vow to scrap C$6 billion ($6.1 billion) in corporate tax cuts and end multibillion-dollar plans to buy new fighter jets and build prison cells.
Harper, highlighting risks to the recovery, says his opponents are treating the economy as "a political game".
Canada's budget deficit hit a record C$55.6 billion last year, but that's tiny compared with the projected $1.645 trillion (1.02 trillion pounds) U.S. shortfall for 2011. The Canadian jobless rate is 7.8 percent, compared with 8.9 percent south of the border.
The opposition thinks it can benefit from a series of ethical scandals to hit the Conservative Party, which came to power in 2006 promising to clean up Ottawa.
Police are investigating allegations of misconduct by a former Harper aide, and last month, four Conservative officials were charged with violating election financing rules in 2006.
The Conservatives have responded with charges the Liberals, the left-leaning New Democrats and the separatist Bloc Quebecois are planning to form a coalition government.
The Liberals have so far skirted questions as to whether they might seek to work with other parties after the election.
(Additional reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Peter Galloway)