Boxed in

Play with fire enough times and you’re bound to get burned.
The federal Liberals have spent the past several months doing anything and everything to avoid an election they know they can’t win. They’ve abstained from crucial votes, or had just enough members in the House so as to ensure a motion wasn’t defeated.
They’ve worded their own motions in such a way that the NDP and Bloc Quebecois couldn’t support them.
Despite this high-stakes game of hop scotch, however, the Liberals now find themselves in the ultimate pickle: having to basically axe a bill spearheaded by one of their own MPs, and which already has passed in the House of Commons, in order to keep the Harper government afloat.
Dan McTeague’s private member’s bill, in a nutshell, calls for contributions to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) to be tax deductible—just like those for RRSPs. Aimed at making it easier for parents to save for their children’s post-secondary education, the Liberals, NDP, and BQ (eager to be seen as on the side of Canadians) all supported it.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, opposed the bill, arguing the federal coffers are too drained to afford it. And now Finance minister Jim Flaherty has introduced a budget-related motion that includes a provision to repeal it.
That, in effect, has boxed the Liberals into a corner. Abstain and McTeague’s bill is dead; oppose and the very election they’ve been trying so desperately to avert is on.
The Grits aren’t ready to quit dancing just yet, though. It seems they’ll let Mr. Flaherty’s motion pass a preliminary vote tomorrow, but are threatening to bring the government down when it comes back for a final vote in a few weeks—enough time, the Liberals evidently hope, to be better prepared for a campaign.
Regardless of how this all plays out, the Liberals’ antics have made one thing abundantly clear: elections are not fought over principles or pressing national issues, but when it’s best for the fortunes of this or that party.
And they wonder why voters are so cynical these days.