How would a coalition actually be formed here?
It’s hard to outline the steps because this is all uncharted waters. Certainly, the government would have to be formally defeated in the House of Commons first. Then Prime Minister Stephen Harper would have to tell the Governor General that he has lost the confidence of the House. Then it gets really fuzzy. In a different situation, what would happen is the prime minister could maybe recommend another election or another party. The Governor General would then logically turn to the leader of the next largest party in House of Commons, the Liberal party. That would, of course, be Stephane Dion and she could ask him to form a government. But Dion has [announced he will resign] as leader, so that’s certainly shaky to say the least. The Liberals don’t have a permanent leader at the moment, so it’s really unclear exactly what the steps would be. It’s really uncharted waters.
