Modeling Journey

Duceppe has just finished his press conference and has responded to the Liberal Party's unilateral declaration of its independence of the Harper minority government.

And Duceppe has laid out the terms on which he will prop up the Harper minority government.

We will dance with the Tories, Duceppe said in essence, but Harper and his government must understand three things about this dance:

1. We, the Bloc, play the dominant role (that is, we direct the dance moves, much like a man does in ballroom dancing, and so Harper and his ministers will have to get used to a role now unfamiliar to them: taking directions).

2. We decide what the music will be (see more below).

3. We decide when to end the dance.

So where does that leave us?

Depends on whether Stephen Harper is prepared to change his suits for a nice, flaring, floor length ballroom dance dress, hold his left hand up to clasp Duceppe's right hand, drape his right arm on Duceppe's manly shoulder, and then start dancing when and how Duceppe directs.

A tango it won't be. But a nice waltz, not too fast so that the new couple on the dance floor don't trip over their feet (after all, Harper needs to get used to wearing high heels) – that is possible.

But what about the music?

Oh, that's not a problem, Duceppe said very clearly in his interview. He and his Bloc MPs will give due consideration to each and every dance (no blanket approvals for a long time from this dancing partner!)

And he will start with dances that he knows Harper knows, just to make things easier for Harper in his new role as a gliding waltzer. That means starting with the proposals which Duceppe tabled with Harper in November 2008 and also in April 2009.
Bring to parliament concrete proposals, to implement things, with definite and short timelines, rather than just talk about them, and we can dance, he said. Make sure the proposals are in the interests of Quebec, as the Bloc interprets those interests, and we can dance, he said. Forgeddabout moving the securities commission from Montreal to Toronto – that's not one of the tunes that we can dance to. Forgeddabout not doing the things we have said need to be done with respect to the EI changes – that's not one of the tunes we can dance to. Forgeddabout not pumping some more money into the Quebec forest industry – that's also not one of the tunes we can dance to.

So there we have it.

Duceppe has donned his bright shiny dance shoes, spiffed up his nicely tailored dance suit, pinned on a cheerful fleur-de-lis to his lapel, and offered his arm to Stephen Harper.

And come the first confidence vote, the Bloc will consider whether the tunes that are available meet with its concern. If they do, then Duceppe will dance.

And he will dance with either Stephen Harper or Michael Ignatieff.

Depends which one of these two offers him the best choice of tunes.

Let the dancing begin!