Once again, the party ran from a potential showdown on the campaign trail by allowing the Conservative government's budget to pass through the House of Commons. There's a theory that after trying to engineer a snap election and winning a majority government, Harper wants to spend more time as head of a minority Parliament so that by the time Canadians actually go to the polls, they will be more comfortable with the idea of having him as their prime minister and vote accordingly.

Government spending
Opposition parties
Minority government