BRIAN LAGHI , JANE TABER and GLORIA GALLOWAY
Globe and Mail Update
November 28, 2008 at 3:45 PM EST
OTTAWA — The federal Liberals have laid out a potential plan to bring down the Harper government by putting forward a motion they could use to defeat the Conservatives on Monday and replace them with a coalition made up of themselves and the NDP.
The Liberals presented four possible motions, one of which says the opposition "has lost confidence in this government, and is of the opinion that a viable alternative government can be formed within the present House of Commons."
The three other motions put forward, while critical of the government's recent fall economic update, would not mean the defeat of the Tories. Liberals were unavailable yesterday to say when they will decide which motion to use.
The first motion says the government failed to recognize the seriousness of Canada's economic situation and has not credibly presented a plan to stimulate the economy. The Liberals are also deeply angry about a proposal that would eliminate the program that provides political parties operating funds based on the number of votes they receive in federal elections.
Representatives of the Liberals, NDP and the Bloc Québécois were deep in discussions Friday aimed at cobbling together a coalition should the government be defeated.
NDP sources said party veteran Ed Broadbent held talks Thursday with former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien about how a coalition between their two parties could work.
This is a situation "the Tories have brought on themselves with their economic statement," Mr. Broadbent told CTV News on Friday morning. "I heard business groups this morning, they are unhappy with it. All the opposition parties are unhappy with it. So there is no question that serious discussions are going on."
By noon, however, there were indications the federal Tories had begun looking for ways to avoid a showdown.
Sources told The Globe and Mail that senior Tories have reached out to members of opposition parties in an effort to find out what compromise might be possible. It's the first sign the Tories are nervous that their economic package, which so incensed the opposition, needs to be altered in some way so as to avoid the government being toppled.
It remains by no means clear what the Tories would do to ameliorate the situation, nor what the opposition needs to drop its opposition to the package.
Nothing has been ruled out on the coalition front, one New Democrat said, contradicting reports that NDP Leader Jack Layton would not participate in a coalition government with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion as prime minister.
That rumour must have come from the camps of one of the Liberal leadership contenders, not from the NDP, the source said, adding that every thing is on the table — including bringing in Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale to be prime minister.
The co-operation of the Bloc would be required for any Liberal-NDP coalition to function.
Bloc representatives laughed when asked Friday if members of their party were taking part in the negotiations. But both the NDP and the Liberals said the move to unseat the Conservatives and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is being driven by all opposition parties.
Further reading at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081128.wPOLcoalition1128/BNStory/politics/home
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