[jammies]

I'm not a fan of the NDP by any means but the term "Dippers" sounds rather condescending. Just sayin'.

I doubt very much the Governor-General is going to allow a Government coalition that has less MPs than the Opposition. Either the Bloc formally joins the coalition or it is going to be still-born; talk about an NDP/Liberal alliance is pipe dreams.

Put it this way - if the Liberals had elected 120 seats on their own, and the NDP had none, if the government was defeated do you think they should be able to nominate their own PM despite the Conservatives having 20 more seats? In a parliamentary democracy, if there is no majority then the LARGEST minority party/coalition becomes the government - there is no prize for 2nd place. How can you propose to have the confidence of the House if you are already starting every piece of legislation from 20 seats back?

edit - To make this argument more clear, the telling point is that the Bloc will not have any ministers, which to me signifies that they are NOT going to be part of the government in any meaningful sense; it seems that the coalition is trying to include the Bloc as part of their claim to become the government, but at the same time is distancing that government from the Bloc in an effort to downplay the influence the Bloc will have.

Well, you can't have it both ways - either the Bloc is part of the coalition, and should have a proportionate share of the power, or it isn't part of the coalition, and the NDP/Liberals do not have the confidence of the House. Duceppe is willing to "join" this coalition in this fashion as it furthers his not-so-hidden agenda to prove Canada doesn't work; if the Governor-General lets this farce go through, he is going to have some powerful ammunition no matter what happens from then on.