We do not need Hollywood, New York, Montreal, Toronto or anywhereelse to produce soap operas to entertain us any more. RecentlyParliament has been surpassing anything that the scriptwriterscould produce — a real-time amazing game of one-upmanship and catand mouse as the Liberals and opposition parties toss the electionhot potato back and forth.

When the dust settles the odds are pretty good that the Libs willform the next government, but the chances of having a majority are certainly dicey. Given that most Canadians, the Harperitesaside, seem to not want any election until next spring, the issuenow is how much will the Liberals compromise to get the electionon their time table, and if they can’t, how can the variousparties duck the responsibility for causing an unwanted andunpopular election.

Stephen Harper doesn’t seem to care much. Ever since last springhe has been anxious to collapse the government and go to the polls,a fact that is curious since polling has indicated that his partywill probably come out in worse shape than it is now. Ah, hopesprings eternal among the firebrands of the radical right;sometimes I think that Harper is the political equivalent of asuicide bomber.

Jack Layton on the other hand, who, unlike, Harper has no delusionsabout forming government, has been out to squeeze as much aspossible out of the Liberals in exchange for keeping thegovernment on life support. The strategy worked last summer whenthe Libs modified their budget to meet NDP concerns, but with thespectre of a dreaded Christmas election very much in the picture,the dynamics have changed.

Jack made his move to get concessionson healthcare in exchange for support against a no-confidence vote,but Martin called his bluff. Trying hard to avoid either beingresponsible for an election or being seen to cave in to theLiberals, Layton came up with the current proposal for all sidesto agree to an election being called in January.

Martin’s countermove has been to say no, and to put forward a package of taxbreaks and other attractive legislation that would be stillborn ifa no-confidence vote passes before the holidays. Additionally, heclawed back some of the concessions made to Layton lastsummer.

Layton’s plan makes sense if you are not a Liberal and want thegovernment to change as soon as possible without a lot ofcollateral damage. Forcing an earlier election with someone elsetaking the blame works well for the Libs, however, since all theirpromises will become moot, and if they get a majority they will beable to start over with a new agenda unencumbered by minority concerns.Both Harper and Duceppe seem to realize this and are onboard withLayton. Martin, however, now has the upper hand.

As I write this, Parliament is getting ready to hear the debate.It will be interesting to watch how the opposition partiesmanoeuvre out of the corner Martin has them in, and if they cannot, how they are going to spin the story to minimize the damageat the polls for being the Grinch that smoked Christmas.

One of the funnier things that has come out of the sponsorship scandalthat has triggered this stinking mess is the plan by StephenHarper to clean up government. How many times in history have weheard politicians put forward such a plan, and why should anyoneever believe it?

In Harper’s case it is particularly unbelievableto the point of being a roaring farce. Here we have a man talkingabout campaign finance reform who, in previous employment, lobbiedagainst such reform. Remember the National Citizens’ Coalition,that far out right-wing nut bar group that Harper used to lead?Harper and the NCC have spent years fighting reform proposals andprotecting the rights of the rich to buy elections as they please.You can bet that any reform along these lines that comes out of aConservative government will be all smoke and no fire, a toothlessdog that barks a lot but only licks, not bites.

Harper, it appears, is a man so desperate for power that he willsay anything, no matter how insincere, to woo the electorate.Once the champion of privatization and market driven healthcare,we now hear him speaking fondly about our public healthcare system.Should any rational person believe him?

And what about his newposition on the United States? The chameleon has changed from Mr.America wanting closer ties and willing to send our troops to Iraqand other places at the command of George Bush, to a tough guy inthe softwood dispute. Perhaps we should be asking “will the realStephen Harper please stand up?”

Desperate Housewives pales in comparison to the liveentertainment currently taking place on Parliament Hill. Whetherit is good government or not is up for debate.