Finance Minister Jim Flaherty had this to say when asked whether the Tory-led coalition in Britain changed his view of co-operative governance.
"Coalitions can mean different things," he told reporters after a Wednesday caucus meeting. "As you know, we have three opposition parties here and as you know, we have no friends. So we don't have a coalition here. We just govern as best we can. It would be nice if we had more friends here."
Conservative ad campaigns have gone all out in recent years to make "coalition" a bad word in Canada.
Ever since the Liberals and NDP attempted a coalition in 2008 with the support of the Bloc Québécois, Conservatives repeatedly warn that it is only a matter of time before their political rivals gang up again.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made no mention of the new coalition accord struck in London in his note Tuesday congratulating Conservative Leader David Cameron on his election victory and new job as British Prime Minister.
Bill Curry