And We Have a Winner!

There is only one winner of the coalition agreement reached today by the Grits, NDP and Bloc, and that's the Bloc. The Liberals and NDP between them do not have the clout required to form a functional coalition government; they have 114 seats between them, not enough to even pretend to oppose the Conservatives; the coalition is entirely dependent on the Bloc's willingness to support it.

That kind of leverage will not be overlooked by an idealist - an intelligent idealist - like Gilles Duceppe. The Bloc can ask for whatever they want, within reason of course, and get it! This wasn't lost on Stéphane Dion, Jack Layton or their respective caucusses, and there's an agreement - an official, legally binding agreement - for the Bloc not to defeat the coalition government for 18 months.

That leaves the Bloc with a lot of leeway. They hold the balance of legislative power and can block legislation, they can allow the Conseratives to run their legislation through anyway and oppose anything the government tries to pass unless their demands are met.

If I was Gilles Duceppe, I would be giggling maniacally.