Ottawa is abuzz with 2 rumors this week, according to CBC's at issue last night with Chantal Hebert, Peter Mansbridge, Andrew Coyne and Allan Greg:
1. The liberal caucus is getting restless and may be about to turf Ignatieff out of the leadership as he is ow less popular than Dion.
2. Far more interesting is that people at the highest levels of the NDP/Liberals have opened talks privately on a coalition. The elder statesmen leading the apparent charge are Ed Broadbent and Jean Chretien. I would assume that the talk is centered around the NDP/Libs having enough seats after the next election to form a majority coalition government between them. Given the Conservative surge in the polls, however, I suspect that this is now no longer possible. Peter Mansbridge offered the tantalizing suggestion that this is how the PC/Alliance merged in 2004.
We could be seeing the beginnings of a NDP/Liberal coalition/merger. I think it's clear that the only way that the Conservatives will lose government again is for this to happen.
The fact that 2 officials at the highest level are discussing this indicates to me that if the next election is as bad a debacle as appears likely for the left/center left that this coalition/merger talk could get deadly serious.
Right now, I think it's Chretien and Broadbent and their confidantes blowing in the wind to be honest but after the next election, they may lead a serious charge.