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Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe set off a game of parliamentary chicken on Saturday, laying down five "non-negotiable" conditions for supporting the minority Conservative government's throne speech next month.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Tories gave no sign of bowing to the Bloc's ultimatum while Liberals and New Democrats continued to stand by their own conditions for supporting the speech.

Unless one of the parties blinks, Mr. Duceppe's ploy increases the chances that the country will be plunged into a fall election.

During a campaign-like speech in Rimouski, Que., on Saturday, Mr. Duceppe listed five "non-negotiable" conditions the Conservative government must meet to earn his party's support.

He called for the elimination of the federal spending power in provincial jurisdictions, the Tory government to respect the Kyoto Protocol and the continuation of supply management in the agricultural sector.

He also wants promises of help for Quebec's forest industry and a clear commitment that Canadian soldiers will pull out of Afghanistan when the current mission ends in February 2009.

There's little chance Mr. Harper will even pretend to try to meet those conditions. A spokesman for the prime minister urged Mr. Duceppe to reconsider whether he wants to force an election.

"Quebecers were clear in the by-elections — they do not want an election now," said Dimitri Soudas.

"The Bloc should listen and not be reckless."

But Mr. Duceppe insisted he'll stick to his guns and live with the consequences.

"If it means an election, it means an election," he told reporters following his speech.

It was last Monday's three Quebec by-elections that prompted the belligerent new tone from Mr. Duceppe, whose party has helped Mr. Harper's Tories survive three confidence votes since January, 2006.

The Bloc was defeated by the Tories in its onetime bastion of Roberval and barely hung on Saint Hyacinthe-Bagot. It's share of the vote in the former Liberal fortress of Outremont collapsed, enabling the NDP to claim victory.

Since then Bloc MPs have complained that the party has lost relevance with voters because it's seen as doing little other than propping up the Tories.

Montreal Liberal MP Denis Coderre said Mr. Duceppe appears to be panicking over the Bloc's "crisis of relevance."

Thomas Mulcair, the NDP victor in Outremont, scoffed at Mr. Duceppe's "chest-thumping," and doubted whether he's serious about forcing an election, given the Bloc's dismal prospects.

"I guess he's trying to build up his street cred a little bit in Quebec," Mr. Mulcair said in an interview.

If he wants to avoid an election, Mr. Mulcair said Mr. Duceppe will either have to back down or hope the Liberals, who are reeling from a similarly dismal showing in the by-elections, will bail him out.

"If he paints himself into that corner . . . he's going to have to walk into some paint or he's going to hope that the Liberals under Mr. (Stephane) Dion are going to be feeling so weak that they won't have any stomach for a fight."

NDP Leader Jack Layton, emboldened by the by-election results, has warned his party will vote against the throne speech unless it contains a "complete change of direction" on the environment and the Afghanistan mission.

Mr. Dion has also spelled out his own conditions for supporting the throne speech — including revival of the Clean Air Act and a commitment to a 2009 exit date from Afghanistan — and has warned Liberals won't hesitate to vote it down if it falls short.

Mr. Coderre reiterated Saturday that his party won't support the throne speech just to avoid an election. It will weigh the throne speech carefully and decide whether it merits Liberal support or opposition.

"There's no way that we will take our decision based on the state of panic of Mr. Duceppe or the friskiness of Mr. Layton," he said in an interview.

The House of Commons resumes sitting Oct. 16 with a throne speech launching a new session of Parliament.