Canadian Press, April 29. The Tories need to stave off defeat in confidence votes until then and are considering ways to secure support from the NDP and Bloc Quebecois on a case-by-case basis … One senior Conservative said there will be plenty of ways for the parties to work together. “We’re hopeful they’d want to work with us. … Maybe cooler heads will prevail,” he said.

John Ivison, April 30. Senior Conservatives say they rate the prospect of an election before next spring’s budget at less than a fifty-fifty possibility, after coming to a nod and a wink understanding with both the NDP and the Bloc.

Stephen Harper, today. “That is absolutely untrue … the Bloc Quebecois stands for the break-up of this country. We will not govern this country in a pact or arrangement with the Bloc Quebecois …I don’t know where that is coming from but there is no contemplation of that, let alone the possibility of that.”