Contrary to [Stephen Harper]'s assertion that the past minority Parliament was "dysfunctional," the record clearly shows that minority governments get things done. In less than four years, the Harper administration passed three budgets, extended the Canadian mission in Afghanistan and made sweeping changes to Canada's immigration system. Prior to that, a shorthanded Liberal government under Paul Martin created a national child care program, struck a "New Deal" with cities and stabilized the health care system with a $43-billion federal-provincial health accord.

Over time, minority Parliaments seem to lose their focus and degenerate into a daily war of attrition over nothing of significance. The Conservatives had a clear agenda - their vaunted "Five Priorities" from the last campaign -- that they managed to implement, to varying degrees, during their first six months in power. Since then, they've essentially coasted. It's rather telling that this election is more likely to be a referendum on the Liberals' Green Shift tax proposal than about any specific vision or idea offered by the Conservatives.

It's pretty obvious why [Dion] would be in favour of such a system. The Liberals face a united right-wing party and must compete against the NDP and Greens for left-leaning voters in English-speaking Canada and with the Bloc Quebecois in Quebec. With the left crowded, it's likely that smaller parties' supporters would be more likely to pick the Liberals over the Conservatives as their second or third choice.