Canada’s chock full of fragile voter coalitions, these days. When Tom Mulcair’s NDP lost a member of parliament to the Bloc Quebecois, questions arose—though not so much in Quebec—about the strength of the party among its twin voter bases in English and French Canada. When the Liberals convinced almost 300,000 people to vote for that party’s next leader, questions arose about the regional weaknesses hobbling the party, not to mention the challenge of getting all those people to register to vote. And this morning, Postmedia‘s Andrew Coyne explains his skepticism that the country’s coalition of conservative voters, that varied bloc of libertarians and social conservatives and progressive conservatives and anyone else who claims to be conservative, can last much longer.

So much can happen between now and the next federal election. So many voter bases can collapse, amalgamate or otherwise remain about the same. The only thing we know for sure is that various party leaders all have something to worry about.

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What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with the Northwest Territories taking more responsibility for resource development. The National Post fronts efforts to honour Albert Goering, the brother of Hitler’s second-in-command, with an award that recognizes efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust. The Toronto Star goes above the fold with the first day of the papal conclave in the Vatican City. The Ottawa Citizen leads with Canadian efforts to seek international assistance to finance a military satellite project. iPolitics fronts the propensity of right-leaning political figures to be punished more severely for off-colour remarks. CBC.ca leads with cardinals entering the papal conclave. National Newswatch showcases Andrew Coyne’s column in the National Post about the survivability of Canada’s conservative movement.

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Stories that will be (mostly) missed

1. Child welfare. The feds have underfunded child welfare programs on First Nations, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled yesterday over the objections of government lawyers.	2. Civil liberties. A new bill that would allow shopkeepers to make citizens’ arrests of alleged shoplifters could lead to abuses of power by private security companies, warned critics.
3. Charbonneau commission. The head of the inquiry that’s investigating corruption in Quebec’s construction industry is seeking an 18-month extension of her mandate.	4. Anti-homophobia. Quebec’s government has launched an ad campaign meant to change attitudes towards homophobia in the province, part of a $7-million plan to eliminate homophobia.

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