Ottawa

The onus is on who?

Stephen Harper rejects your hypothetical and substitutes his own.

The question of who would govern in the 41st Parliament if no party has a majority of seats is threatening to overwhelm this election, after the Liberal Leader said Tuesday he would be prepared to form a government if the Conservatives won the most seats but were defeated on their Throne Speech. The obvious next question is whether Mr. Harper would be willing to temper that Throne Speech and compromise on the budget to secure opposition-party support.

But Mr. Harper was having none of it. “I don’t accept the [premise of the] question,” Mr. Harper replied, when asked by a reporter if he would be prepared to compromise to stay alive. The other parties “are saying that even if we receive a mandate from the people they will defeat us on our budget if they can,” he maintained. “They will get together and form another alternative, of some other kind of government.”

Mr.  Ignatieff responds.

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