Well, we now have a report from Canada that the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party have agreed to form a coalition, and that the Bloc Québécois has agreed to be a part of the government too.

Because of this they have asked that the current minority Conservative government be dissolved, as they constitute a majority of the Canadian Parliament, as 77 Liberal + 37 NDP + 49 BQ is 164 of the 308 seats.

I’m not sure how long this would last. The Liberal Leader, Stephane Dion, would be the interim PM, but he announced his resignation as party leader following the recent election, so the new leader would replace him. (more on the machinations here)

Of note is the fact that this would be the first time that the NDP would actually be officially a part of a government.

The Conservatives are screaming Coup, but they got neither a majority of the seats nor a majority of the popular vote.

I think that the proximate cause is a recognition by the Conservatives that with Obama in the White House, one of their main claims to legitimacy, being uniquely positioned to maintain a good relationship with the US President, is no longer operative, so they have tried to impliment some of the more radical elements of their agenda in the expectation that they would lose in the next election:

….Transport Minister John Baird said the minority government won’t try to eliminate federal civil servants’ right to strike over the next couple of years, as pledged in last week’s economic update.

On Saturday, Baird also announced the government had shelved its contentious plan to eliminate political party subsidies that are based on the number of votes received during elections. Parliament is due to vote on a Liberal no-confidence motion on Dec. 8.

The subsidies in question are public financing of campaigns.

Also, Harper is refusing to submit a real stimulis package for the Canadian economy.

In the process, I think that he has gotten the 3 other parties freaked out enough to work together.