Exciting Canadian politics!
No, it's not an oxymoron. As things stand, it looks like we're heading for:
a) Minority conservative government to be toppled by a vote of no-confidence less than two months after taking power.
b) Rather than sending the electorate straight back to the polls, Governor-General to request Liberal Party and New Democratic Party to form a coalition government, with the support of the Bloc Quebecois.
Here's a New York Times article which may do better at explaining the issues to non-Canadians than I can.
Some more in-depth stuff from the Globe and Mail:
Harper blind to blood-lust in opposition ranks explains why, tactically, Prime Minister Harper put forward the economic plan he did (which, among other dastardly proposals, aims to cut off public funding to political parties, essentially starving all the main parties but his), and how it's going to backfire on him.
GG would have little choice but to accept a coalition pact explains the constitutional underpinning to this turn of events. (Yes, we do have a woman belonging to an ethnic minority as our Governor-General, ie, proxy for our head of State, the Queen. She's the second in a row in fact -- the one before this was Adrienne Clarkson.)
Harper buys time, coalition firms up describes the current state of play provinceside.
Edited later to snort: Looks like the Conservatives are spooked.
a) Minority conservative government to be toppled by a vote of no-confidence less than two months after taking power.
b) Rather than sending the electorate straight back to the polls, Governor-General to request Liberal Party and New Democratic Party to form a coalition government, with the support of the Bloc Quebecois.
Here's a New York Times article which may do better at explaining the issues to non-Canadians than I can.
Some more in-depth stuff from the Globe and Mail:
Harper blind to blood-lust in opposition ranks explains why, tactically, Prime Minister Harper put forward the economic plan he did (which, among other dastardly proposals, aims to cut off public funding to political parties, essentially starving all the main parties but his), and how it's going to backfire on him.
GG would have little choice but to accept a coalition pact explains the constitutional underpinning to this turn of events. (Yes, we do have a woman belonging to an ethnic minority as our Governor-General, ie, proxy for our head of State, the Queen. She's the second in a row in fact -- the one before this was Adrienne Clarkson.)
Harper buys time, coalition firms up describes the current state of play provinceside.
Edited later to snort: Looks like the Conservatives are spooked.