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I’m not saying the coalition is dead…

I’m just saying it’s not exactly tap-dancing right now.

Incidentally, perhaps we should define our terms. Are people who argue that the coalition isn’t dead saying that a Liberal will serve as Canada’s prime minister before the next general election, with a cabinet that includes New Democrats? Or are they saying that the coalition will continue to exist as a threat, to be delivered solemnly at scrum microphones in an ever-feebler attempt to get the (Conservative) Prime Minister to back off selected initiatives, without having to go through an actual election?

In the latter case, “the coalition” would indeed survive, as a kind of druther, a preference for a future that never actually arrives because its advocates dare not try to hasten its coming. Kind of like Social Credit. Or sovereignty-association. And I’m certainly willing to concede that the idea of a Liberal-led coalition government before the next general election is as hale and hearty as Social Credit.

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