Get ready for it. Here they come again. The Conservative government is almost certain to fall on one of two possible votes in the House of Commons on Friday. On Question Period this Sunday, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff suggested he doesn't care whether the government is defeated on the budget or on ethical and trust issues -- they are all the same thing, he told co-host Jane Taber.
Ignatieff was in a feisty mood and clearly geared up for a campaign. He was unusually passionate about the Conservative claim that a Liberal election ad portraying his family as having come to Canada as penniless refugees is a fake.
"They must stop attacking my father, my family and my patriotism" he said angrily.
Liberal sources tell the show that Ignatieff will move a vote of no confidence at 1:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. If it is passed by the other two parties it would send the prime minister to the Governor General to resign his government.
But National Post columnist John Ivison had an intriguing fix on how the government might survive. He believes NDP Leader Jack Layton is too ill to risk his future health in a gruelling 36-day campaign. Ivison speculates that if Layton cannot find enough in the budget to support it, he will resign for reasons of health.
The parliamentarians could hardly go ahead with an election when one of their national leaders is unable to. For his part, Layton has been loudly protesting such talk, insisting he is strong and recovering well.
Meanwhile, with Canadian fighter planes and a warship, the HMCS Charlottetown is about ready to join in the effort to eliminate the threat to civilians from Libyan strongman Gadhafi.
The minister of defence was playing defence when he appeared on the show this morning. Peter MacKay said Canadian fighter planes could be flying sorties within 48 hours. He would not be drawn into questions about whether their mandate will include striking at Gadhafi tanks and military formations on the ground, or whether they are restricted to simply flying cover on the no-fly zone.
He was clearly concerned about the exit strategy for the coalition's UN-mandated mission. I asked what the coalition does if there is a military stalemate on the ground with Gadhafi still hanging on. Under the UN Security Council decision, there is some doubt whether the military mandate includes using force to go in and take Gadhafi out.
MacKay said he hoped this will not be a long, drawn-out mission. But the concern that Libya may become divided east and west in a military standoff is what has many defence strategists staying awake at night.
