Is a Lib-NDP-Bloc coalition out of the question?

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff would have us believe so. Charles Adler disagrees: Coalition of the losers:

The Tories fail to get a majority in May and when Parliament reconvenes they fail to win a vote of confidence following another attempt at a budget.

Michael Ignatieff reaches for his posterior and pulls out a piece of paper with a lot of signatures on it. They all have one thing in common. None of them are members of the Conservative party. All of them are members of parties that lost.

Some could call it a coalition of losers. But it would be a coalition that could easily win the day with the Governor General.

At smalldeadanimals, Kate illustrates why Ignatieff can claim that he won't form a coalition: he already has one!

"This Accord will expire on June 30, 2011 unless renewed."

Yes, it's true. Thanks to some diligent work by Stephen Taylor, we know that the coalition agreement (Accord) signed by the Libs, NDP and Bloc on December 1, 2008 is still in effect!

Kate has acquired some legal insight on the Lib-NDP-Bloc "Accord":

1. It is a "Live " document and is binding on the parties.
2. Termination - No termination by any party-- Termination only occurs on June 30th 2011
3. Document BINDS the NDP and Liberals ( the Liberals cannot unilaterally back out of deal)-- the NDP can force compliance.
4. Given that Michael Ignatieff signed the document-- he can not argue bad faith, or had no knowledge and as such is bound to the Agreement

Watch the Libs and the NDP bring forward the argument that coalition governments are not unusual, even common in Europe. That may be true, but the makeup of such coalitions usually centers on the party that won the election, not those that lost.

Michael Ignatieff has the coalition Accord in his back pocket and he will not hesitate to use it should the Conservatives win anything short of a majority on May 2nd.

Be sure to listen to the audio at the top link to Charles Adler.