By Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Angry opposition parties brought down Canada's Conservative government on Friday, setting the scene for an early May election that polls indicate the Conservatives will win.
Legislators voted 156-145 in the House of Commons to defeat the minority government, which they say is tainted by sleaze, has mismanaged the economy and is overly secretive.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who says an election will harm an economic recovery that is still uncertain, was due to make a statement to the media at about 2 p.m. (6 p.m. British time).
He will visit Governor-General David Johnston, the acting head of state, early on Saturday to seek the formal dissolution of Parliament and set a date for the election. The most likely dates are May 2 or May 9.
The Conservatives, in power since 2006 with two successive minority governments, are riding high. Polls show Harper is set to hold on to power in an election and most likely strengthen his position.
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.
"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. He was speaking before the vote.
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.
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 (3.8 billion pounds) in corporate tax cuts and end multibillion-dollar plans to buy new fighter jets and build prison cells.
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.
Ignatieff, accused by Conservatives of plotting a coalition, said: "That's completely absurd. I will always accept the results of a democratic election."
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Peter Galloway)