I think this might just turn out bad for the Liberals...
I think I suggested earlier in this thread that if Harper were to come out and say he could work with NDP in a minority situation it would bode well for both his party and the Conservatives.
Guess what?
Harper just came out saying he could work with the NDP.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...lDecision2006/
Quote:
Willing to work with NDP, Harper says
TORONTO and WINNIPEG — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper extended a political olive branch to the New Democratic Party yesterday, saying he could see a Tory government working with the NDP "in particular" in spite of their many philosophical differences.
One common area between the parties is improving accountability and reforming government, Mr. Harper said. The NDP may also come to support his party's determination to keep Ottawa out of provincial jurisdictions.
The political overture was his response to NDP Leader Jack Layton's unusually terse anti-Conservative tirade on Wednesday.
Mr. Layton said the Tories would make "a hero" of Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe with a massive transfer of federal tax authority to the province in order to buy Bloc backing for a Tory budget.
Mr. Harper rejected such an approach yesterday.
"I would hope with the NDP in particular that they would have some interest in working with us on various changes we're going to make to the operation of the federal government to improve accountability and improve ethics and honesty," he said in Toronto.
"The federal NDP, regardless of the philosophical differences I have with them on a range of issues, has long been concerned with ethics and accountability in government and integrity in politics."
Mr. Harper said he believes in respecting provincial jurisdiction and supports Quebec Premier Jean Charest's proposals for improving the federation.
"Mr. Charest is not proposing any kind of massive devolution of federal powers," he said.
"I'm not naïve. I don't believe for a second that any amount of change that I would ever make to the Canadian federation would satisfy the Bloc Québécois."
Mr. Layton recoiled from Mr. Harper's overture yesterday, saying he sees little common ground with the Conservatives -- but he did not rule out working with a Tory-led minority government on a vote-by-vote basis.
"We're in the middle of attempting to defeat as many Conservatives as we possibly can," Mr. Layton said at a campaign stop in Winnipeg.
He said there's a yawning gap between the NDP and Conservatives.
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Of course the NDP is still campaigning agianst the Conservative... they have more to loose if they don't. But once the election is done, I see Layton willing to work with whoever is in power to negotiate for the policies he would like to see implimented. He has proven himself time and again, to be an amazing consensus builder (both federally and at the municiple level).