Duceppe and Layton are liars.

While I agree that they all lie, call me a cynic if you like, I'd just like to point out that Tom Flanagan has a different point of view of that time than the Conservatives now do.

In the interview, Flanagan recalled that Harper, amid widespread doubt about whether Martin's minority government could win the support of Parliament after its October 2004 throne speech, was ready to consider forming a Conservative-led minority government without going to an election.

Flanagan, a University of Calgary political scientist who no longer works as a Harper adviser, said he disagrees with his former boss about whether a minority government can -in certain circumstances -be formed by a second-place party.

"I actually don't agree with him on that point. I think that's true 99-percent of the time, but there are occasions when it isn't. You had the Peterson-Rae coalition in Ontario, for example, which was a coalition of second-and third-place finishers."

[url]http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Former+adviser+says+Harper+welcomed+opposition+accord/4518965/story.html
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eta: apologies, I can't seem to get the hotlink to work.