Re: Canada's in election mode, Parliament dissolved, until 19 October
According to the Canadian press, the US did not want Canada in the talks to begin with, and has been talking about kicking Canada out. Their plan apparently was to negotiate a treaty with the weaker countries and then present it to Canada with an ultimatum to sign as is "or else". Last week saw various threats in the form of press leaks from the US directed at Canada, with Canada responding "we don't negotiate through the media".
Currently, the NDP is ahead in the polls, so the current Canadian government may be out on their ear come election day. Should that happen, I would be very surprised to see the NDP sign the treaty.
There's a lot of talk about how big the economic area covered by this treaty is. However, the bulk of the economies involved are already covered by existing free trade treaties. If the TPP collapses, it would be no great loss.