Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's government has been ousted in a no-confidence vote.
Canada's three opposition parties united against his Liberal Party, which has been mired in a corruption scandal.
Mr Martin is expected to seek the dissolution of parliament on Tuesday, and a date for a general election - thought likely to be 16 or 23 January.
Recent polls suggest Mr Martin's Liberals will take most votes in the election - but will not win a majority.
In parliament on Monday the opposition voted by 171-133 to bring down Mr Martin's government.
It has only been in power for 17 months, but has failed to shake off a scandal dating from a previous Liberal administration.
In the late 1990s C$100m ($85m; ?50m) of public money was paid by the Liberal government to advertising agencies, for little or no work in return.
It has been alleged that Liberal officials demanded kickbacks for awarding the contracts.
Mr Martin is not implicated in the scandal, but the opposition says he has lost all moral authority.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4480218.stm -----
All I can say is about damn time.
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