You know, it's a party we are supposed to be electing in this system when we vote, not a "leader". We don't have a president here, we have party leaders who are selected not by the public...but by their own party's serving members in caucus and convention.

I think that Canadians are losing sight of that, and some of the politicians are losing sight of it too. Harper has been governing as if he were an American president. He is not a president. He is a temporary representative of his party, same as Dion, Layton, or Duceppe. His party chose him, not the public. He is not the leader of all Canada or of Canadians, he's the temporary leader of his own party. Period.

In a parliamentary system one man does not rule. Parliament rules. Parliament is composed of ALL the parties, not just the one with the most seats. In a minority government the party "in power" MUST get cooperation from at least one other party on major legislation or it is no longer able to govern effectively, and it must either step down or call an election.

That's partly what this mess is about, the fact that the Conservatives have acted as if they already had a majority. It's also about all of them (the parties) trying to grab whatever advantage they can, needless to say. ;-)