The Globe and Mail jumps on the fall election bandwagon this morning by quoting a cagey Opposition Leader Harper.
..."The most important thing isn't the Gomery report, it's that we actually prosecute somebody and hold somebody accountable for the theft of hundreds of millions in taxpayer money. The only time we'll get that is when we get a new government," Mr. Harper said in West Vancouver.
"The Liberals will want to delay [the election] until at least spring. If there's a necessity to have a fall election and the NDP ceases to prop up the government, that may happen."
How does NDP Leader Layton feel about this?
..."They're putting forward their own confidence motion on a corporate tax cut. I can tell you where we're going to stand on that one: Firmly opposed," he said.
The Liberals expect to win that vote with the support of the Conservatives, but should the Tories wish to force an election, the NDP's position, along with the likely support of the Bloc Québécois, would give the opposition enough votes.
Mr. Layton also discussed the possibility of supporting an explicit no-confidence motion from the opposition after the first Gomery report on Nov. 1, depending on the wording.
Other NDP MPs are not so keen, but at the end of the day it is MP Layton's decision.
Update: The more on this story from Sun Media.
...Deputy Conservative Leader Peter MacKay said while the Liberals will welcome the distance between Gomery's November report and a federal campaign, the Tories may want to strike while
it's still hot.
"I think the delay might very well create circumstances where there could be an election in the fall," he said. MacKay said opposition MPs may not want to give the Grits extra time to do damage control after the first report, which is expected to level harsh criticism at highly placed Liberals.
"It's not entirely in the hands of the prime minister as much as he would like to believe it is," he said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton would not say if he would team up with the Conservatives and Bloc to topple the Liberals, or make a pact to prop them up in exchange for progress on NDP priorities.
"We're not prejudging anything here, we want to make the Parliament work and we want to force the Liberals to take some positive steps on some key issues," he said.
"But as to how we would end up voting on any particular motion, we'll have to see how Canadians react to the report."
This implies that the NDP would not support a non-confidence vote until after the Gomery Report is tabled. Unless it is money bill which included corporate tax-cuts (as above).
Didn't things just get a whole lot more interesting?
