Ottawa | Grits waiting to hear budget

A7

By JIM BROWN
The Canadian Press

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OTTAWA - New Democrat Leader Jack Layton is adjusting the tone of his campaign to topple Stephen Harper's Conservatives, amid signs the NDP's erstwhile Liberal partners are cooling to the crusade.

In an interview Sunday on CTV's Question Period, Layton said he still thinks a common front made up of Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois can command a majority in the House of Commons and offer a realistic alternative government.

But the NDP leader also said he can see why new Liberal chief Michael Ignatieff is being cautious about bringing down the Tories until he sees the budget promised for Jan. 27.

"I can understand that," said Layton.

"He's brand new in the job, I think that's a reasonable position for him to take."

Ignatieff, who is poised to take over the Liberal leadership this week, has said he's ready to vote non-confidence in the Conservatives if he has to.

But he has also described his position as "coalition if necessary but not necessarily coalition" and has said he won't make a final call until Parliament resumes and the budget is presented.

That has prompted speculation he could pull out of the deal brokered by outgoing leader Stephane Dion to form a Liberal-NDP coalition cabinet that would govern with the tacit support of the Bloc.

Layton maintained the deal has proven its worth as a negotiating tool by putting pressure on Harper to rethink his policies.

"The coalition has already begun to transform the way the government is approaching the economy," he said. "We're going to keep the pressure on."

But when asked whether he seriously expects to be sitting in cabinet with the Liberals in the new year, Layton offered an ambiguous response.

"I hope we have a government that's doing the right thing for the economy by the end of January, one way or the other."

Layton said he's personally not optimistic Harper can deliver a budget that will win the confidence of the opposition parties.

He qualified that assessment, however, by noting this is "the season for miracles."

"Are we going to get a miracle in the budget? Maybe we have to be open to that possibility."

Dion, Layton and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe sent a letter to Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean earlier this month saying they had lost confidence in

Harper and proposing to form an alternative government.

That was followed by a second letter, signed by MPs from all three parties - including Ignatieff, as the NDP and Bloc have since noted pointedly.

Harper managed to avert a vote that would have formally ousted him from power by persuading Jean to let him suspend Parliament for seven weeks.

He has since offered an olive branch to Ignatieff and the two men met for a half-hour last Friday in what Harper aides described as a "cordial and businesslike" atmosphere.

Harper has contended if his government falls the proper course would be a new election, rather than installation of a Liberal-NDP coalition.

Layton, however, maintained it would be unprecedented for the Governor General to send Canadians back to the polls so soon after the last election Oct. 14.

"That's a virtual impossibility," Layton said Sunday.

"I think virtually everyone who knows the Constitution would tell you that."