And the winner is ... the party that cuts a deal

LAWRENCE MARTIN From Thursday's Globe and Mail Over to you, Jack and Gilles. Your game. In the aftermath of election day, expect both major parties to be beating a path to the courts of NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe. What we may be entering - emphasis on may - is a new phase of coalition politics in this country, a period in which the political dynamic becomes Europeanized: pizza parliaments, where the winner is the one that can bring together the pieces and cohabitate. If there's a tight election result, Canadians won't want to go back to the polls again to sort things out. They've already had three elections in four years. So, after this vote, the “let's make a deal” game could well begin. The Liberals are best positioned. If the Conservatives win a minority, the Grits could fashion a... [read full story]