Regardless of what happens in the meeting between NDP Leader Jack Layton and Prime Minister Paul Martin it is Christmas, not the NDP, that is propping up the Liberal government.
Think back to the spring. The vote was tied - until Speaker Milliken voted. The vote that caused the tie was MP Chuck Cadman - rest his soul. All things being equal there would be no so such tie this time. Furthermore, MP Pat O'Brien is now an Independent. As is MP Bev Desjarlais. Independent MP Carolyn Parrish has no chance of being let back into the Liberal fold.
NDP support is optics, letting the Liberals use the line that "the Conservatives got in bed with the separatists to force an election that Canadians don't want", nothing more. That being said optics are pretty valuable in politics.
