[troutman]

Interesting Globe & Mail editorial:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../politics/home

To leave Canada's response to a global economic crisis in the hands of an opportunistic coalition of also-rans led by Stéphane Dion is to invite great risk. With the opposition poised to defeat the Conservative government in less than a week's time, it may require great selflessness – if not from Mr. Dion, then on the part of Mr. Harper – to prevent it.

Contrary to silly Conservative claims of a coup d'état, coalition-making is entirely within the boundaries of parliamentary democracy. There is no constitutional impropriety here. But there certainly would be a political one. Owing in large part to his now defunct “Green Shift,” Mr. Dion has proved highly unpopular in Western Canada – particularly in resource-laden Alberta and Saskatchewan. What would voters in those provinces make of his elevation to the prime ministership less than two months after they overwhelmingly rejected him? Expect the Conservatives to pour fuel on the resulting regional resentment.

If the Liberals are truly set, however, on defeating Mr. Harper, and every indication suggests they are, then the responsibility for averting this politically illegitimate coalition shifts to the Prime Minister. Mr. Harper is ultimately responsible for this unhappy state of affairs. It is the byproduct of his machinations, and the product of a failure of his leadership. The opposition parties, especially with the Liberals busy licking their election wounds, were not out to pick a fight in the new Parliament. Mr. Harper gave them one anyway, turning his government's economic update into a partisan document aimed less at strengthening Canada's economic position than at undermining their ability to compete in the next election.

Switching to another Conservative leader may at this point be preferable to a legacy as the man who gave Canada Prime Minister Stéphane Dion.