Right on schedule …

… those rumours of potential floorcrossing by disgruntled Liberal MPs, first hinted at obliquely by at least one columnist a few days ago, are starting to pick up momentum, if only through repetition. If this latest bout of existential crabbiness continues according to the established timeline, some sort of crie de coeur petition to the leader, signed by at least half the caucus, should leak out sometime before Friday, and if things get really, really bad — like, Stockwell Day bad — we could see the formation of a breakaway sect by mid-October. C’mon, wouldn’t that be fun?

(Note to rebels-in-waiting:  Remember to hold out until you have at least twelve MPs on side — that way, you can ask the Speaker to grant you official party status, and yes, you can almost certainly count on at least two, and very possibly three of the other parties supporting your claim, if only to make things that much worse for the Liberals.)

Oh, take heart, OLO: at the very least, this will definitely boost attendance for the leader’s post-tactics scrum. (And don’t even think of cancelling it at the last minute — that’ll definitely make it worse.)

Full disclosure: As ITQ mentioned in an earlier comments thread, she had actually heard Ruby Dhalla’s name last week, although it now sounds as though that’s the one name not being floated by Conservative pot-stirrers, Dimitri Soudas’ exclamation-point-festooned email to reporters notwithstanding. Other than that, she hasn’t heard much in the way of specifics, although the idea of a threesome is oddly familiar — wasn’t that supposed to be in the works during The Madness last December?