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A Prime Minister vowing to hold onto office no matter what the cost. Opposition parties banding together to remove him. Rivals become allies. Secret tape recordings are released. It's brinksmanship in the House of Commons of the highest order. And all eyes are on the Governor-General to see if she will save a government or cast a nation into further uncertainty. It was a week unlike any other on Parliament Hill.

Who needs reality television? Who needs American politics, for that matter? Who needs Sarah Palin? The weekly video rankings at globeandmail.com tell the story of the week that was in Canadian politics.

1. Tories release secret tape (The Canadian Press) 20,471 page views

The Office of the Prime Minister releases secretly recorded audio from a private NDP conference call. The PMO said the recording showed the NDP and the Bloc Québécois had long conspired to topple the Conservative government, even before the fiscal update kerfuffle. (Note to PMO... it's a minority government, comes with the territory). Jack Layton was outraged. Threats of criminal charges were made. How did the Tories happen onto the conference call? A Tory British Columbia MP received an e-mail invite to the audio conference by mistake because his name was similar to an NDP MP. It can happen.

2. Raucous Question Period (The Canadian Press) 18,171 page views

This was always going to be ugly. Wednesday's Question Period saw an extraordinary exchange take place between Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Mr. Harper opened with a jab about only taking office by winning an election, rather than partnering with separatists. Mr. Dion countered with a spitting-mad diatribe about the House's lack of confidence in the government.

3. Tories release anti-coalition attack ads (The Globe and Mail) 15,069 page views

Bring on the PR campaign. The Tories came out swinging on Tuesday with radio ads built on the blueprint they have used again and again. They took Stéphane Dion's own words and threw them back in his face. The ad ran a clip of Mr. Dion from the past election campaign, saying he would not enter into a coalition with the Bloc. It ended with “Power must be earned.” It sounded a lot like “Not a leader. Not worth the risk.” At least they used the same female voiceover.

4. Tories running out of options (The Canadian Press) 13,658 page views

From Tuesday, with the coalition gaining strength and left unified, Stephen Harper's prospects were not looking good. Mr. Harper says he will use all legal tools at his disposal. This is when the notion of “proroguing” Parliament first came up in the media, sending a good number of Canadians to their dictionaries. This was followed by many people saying the word “prorogue” over and over again because it sounded so cool.

5. Coalition deal includes stimulus package (The Canadian Press) 9,363 page views

Details of the coalition emerge and the deal that brought this unlikely group together was built around a $30-million stimulus package. Reports emerge about the Wise Men, a group of retired politicians that was going to advise the government on the economy. It was said that Paul Martin, John Manley, Frank McKenna and Roy Romanow would make up these “wise men.” Sounded great, but then Mr. Manley came forward and threw cold water on the notion. It suddenly appeared that instead of four wise men guiding the coalition, we may, in fact, have three blind mice.

6. Harper vs. Dion: Who won? (The Canadian Press) 8,006 page views

Thursday's leader-speech night promised to deliver some much needed clarity on the week of political uncertainty. It failed. Mr. Harper spoke first, and sounded like Mr. Rogers. It was like he thought that if he just repeated his message really, really earnestly, people would just accept it. The public seemed to be expecting an apology, but one was not offered. Mr. Dion was presented the equivalent of a slo-pitch lob across the plate. In this situation, he did what he has done with golden opportunities of late: swing and a miss. Mr. Dion's message had substance but the production quality of the video left a lot to be desired. And he was late with it, prompting many pundits to openly question his fitness to govern. Ouch.

7. Historic day at Rideau Hall (The Globe and Mail) 7,856 page views

Globe Ottawa bureau reporter Steven Chase shot video of the scene at the Governor-General's residence Thursday for the historic decision to prorogue Parliament. The video shows the PM's arrival and the protesters lining the entrance. When Mr. Harper met with reporters, he was pelted with tiny sleet pellets which seemed to capture the mood.

8. Nolen reports from Mumbai (The Globe and Mail) 6,479 page views

Stephane Nolen's eyewitness reports from the scene of the terror attacks in Mumbai gripped readers. By week's end, all that was left was the cleaning up and trying to make sense of the terrible waste of life. Authorities looked to Pakistan, and the U.S. reported that they had warned India of a pending attack.

9. Raw footage of India terror attacks (The Associated Press) 5,671 page views

Security-camera video was released from several locations showing the attackers as they first opened their deadly shooting spree. The stop-action frames show people ducking and bullets flying. Terrifying in its relentless progression.

10. Black Friday turns deadly (The Associated Press) 4,748 page views

A Wal-Mart employee was killed when shoppers stampeded into a New York store on the unofficial start of the U.S. holiday shopping season. The store had advertised steep discounts, but failed to add security personnel to maintain order.

Honourable Mention: 11. Out of the trailer park (The Canadian Press) 4,727 page views; 12. Decanting demystified (The Globe and Mail) 4,475 page views; 13. Live: Harper addresses the nation (CTV) 4,232 page views.