Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he plans to introduce a bill to set fixed dates for federal elections, as part of a wider movement towards democratic reform.

"Fixed election dates stop leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar," Harper told reporters in Victoria, B.C. on Friday. "They level the playing field for all parties."

The bill will be introduced next week and proposes to set fixed election dates every four years.

The next election would be set for fall of 2009.

Harper also said a proposal for Senate reform could be introduced. He did not offer any details, but said "this is only the beginning."

Conservatives have criticized former Liberal prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin for calling early elections when they thought they had the best chance of winning.

Martin launched the 2004 election campaign shortly after the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives, before the new party could even hold a policy convention.

And Chretien twice called elections just three-and-a-half years into his five-year mandates.

"The only way we can have justice is to have a fixed election date, because an election without a fixed election date is a tremendous advantage for the party in power," Harper said.

Three provinces already have fixed-date elections: British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador. B.C. had its first fixed-date election last year.

The Conservative government have been asking opposition parties whether they would support fixed dates.

"I'm convinced that there's a majority in the House of Commons that is for this type of undertaking," Harper said.

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife agreed that Harper will probably encounter little opposition to the bill.

"I think the legislation will pass Parliament," Fife told CTV Newsnet.

"Mr. Harper campaigned on this during the election, and there was really no dissention from the opposition parties. When a majority government is in power, which is really when it works, it provides predictability to all of the parties."

However, a law setting fixed election dates is unlikely to have an effect on minority governments, given their traditionally short life span.