CANADA - A budding coalition between New Democrats, the separatist Bloc Quebecois and Liberals is an exercise in nation building, NDP Leader Jack Layton told his caucus in a conference call covertly recorded by the government.
Layton's national unity musings were secretly recorded Saturday by the Conservatives. They held the tape for a day and then had an official from the Prime Minister's Office deliver it to various media on Sunday.
"The 'Coalition for Canada,' I love the idea – (but it) could be a deal-breaker for the Bloc," Layton is heard saying to laughter.
"'The Coalition for Canada and Quebec?"' he adds, to more laughter.
Layton, however, appears deadly serious when he pitches the coalition as a potentially unifying force in federal politics.
"Nothing could be better for our country than to have the 50 (BQ) members out of 75 who've been elected in Quebec actually helping to make Canada a better place. We just approach it on that basis and say, 'We're willing to make that happen. Here are the things we're going to be investing in and transforming together.'
"If they're willing to work with us, we're willing to accept that offer."
The NDP said Sunday it may pursue criminal charges after the Conservatives covertly listened in, taped and distributed audio of Saturday's closed-door strategy session.
There no wiretap crime under the Criminal Code of Canada if someone is invited to participate in a conference call and then releases the recording publicly.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said an unnamed Conservative had been "invited" to participate on the call.
"Maybe the invitation was meant for the Bloc, and they accidentally invited us," said Dimitri Soudas. The NDP deny any Conservatives were invited. The conference call was meant for NDP only.
Two disparate segments of the recording totalling about 15 minutes were delivered Sunday. The senior PMO official distributing the recordings suggested more will be revealed later this week.
The Conservative take is that Layton's comments show he began conspiring with the Bloc for months to bring down Canada's elected government – long before last week's economic update that precipitated the current crisis of confidence in the Harper minority government.
The recording is more ambiguous.
In a discussion over concerns that the Bloquistes will be "offside" on issues, Layton said that's already been taken into account and strategies have been developed to avoid policy conflict.
"I actually believe they're the least of our problems," he said.
"This whole thing wouldn't have happened if the moves hadn't been made with the Bloc to lock them in early because you couldn't put three people together in three hours.
"The first part was done a long time ago. I won't go into details."
Layton suggests reluctant Liberals may be a bigger problem, and he exhorts his MPs to organize public rallies this Thursday and not wait for other coalition partners to do the work.
"Chances are there are a bunch of Liberals in the other ridings on whom we want pressure placed," he's heard saying.
As far back as 2004, it's known that Layton, Duceppe and Stephen Harper – then the leader of the Opposition – held a "close consultation" on what would happen if they could defeat the Liberal minority of Paul Martin.
The three leaders co-signed a letter to then governor general Adrienne Clarkson asking her to "consider all your options" if the Liberal government fell.
And during last year's raucous parliamentary session, the Bloc and NDP regularly voted non-confidence in the Conservatives while the Liberals abstained or supported the minority government.
NDP MP Thomas Mulcair said the Tories are panicking and desperate to change the channel on their economic management.
The recording, he said, is a breach of parliamentary rules. NDP lawyers are examining if the tapes break the Criminal Code.
As for the substance of the call, Mulcair said the talks with the Bloc were perfectly normal consultations between parties in a minority government. They began only after the government's economic update was delivered last Thursday, he said.
Layton is heard downplaying the policy questions that could plague a coalition of such disparate party interests, saying everyone will have to curb their wish list.
"What we really want is just to get Harper out and get this new group in because it's going to be a hell of a lot better for everything we believe in. Correct? Correct!"
And he warned his caucus not to be defensive because the coalition represents the majority of Canadian voters.
"You can see where Harper's going here," said Layton.
"He's going to say it's the socialists and the separatists and the opportunists getting together. Those are their talking points and so we just need to push back."
Layton ridiculed the Conservatives over the issue Sunday night at an Ontario NDP event in Toronto.
"It's entirely possible the Conservative party is recording what I'm saying here right now," Layton told the partisan audience. "Here's what I have to say to the Conservative party tuned in: 'good riddance to you!' "
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