Vancouver
Canada has just gone through a week of unprecedented political upheaval. Just two months ago, the country went to the polls and elected another minority government. In a country known for its staidness and in recent years an apathetic voter base, it would be tough to come up with two words more incongruent than 'political upheaval'.
The Conservative minority government didn't expect to spark such a rebellion when it presented its economic update late last month. The update is not a government budget, but a snapshot of where the government sees its financial state and what will happen in the near future.
The hard-hit manufacturing sector in Quebec and the motor-vehicle industry in Ontario have been clamouring for economic aid, but the government announced no new stimulus measures.
The three opposition parties - the Liberals, the New Democrat Party and the Bloc Quebecois - hit back unexpectedly and decisively, saying the government wasn't providing enough help to workers. The Liberals and the New Democrats joined forces and got the backing of the separatist Bloc Quebecois to give them enough seats to form a coalition government and oust the Conservatives, or force yet another election.
Any minority government, and Canada has had three in a row, can be overthrown at any time. But it was the suddenness of the opposition revolt, and the spectre of a coalition government, so soon after both the Liberals and the New Democrats rejected any suggestion during the election campaign of joining together, that caught the Conservatives off guard.