Canada governor-general returns to tackle crisis

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By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian governor-general Michaelle Jean -- the acting head of state -- said on Tuesday she would cut short a foreign trip to help resolve one of the worst political crises in Canada's history.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, trying to prevent opposition parties from defeating his minority Conservative government in a confidence vote next Monday, could move to shut down Parliament temporarily but needs Jean's permission to do so.

Jean, who is in Prague, will fly back on Wednesday rather than Saturday. She is the personal representative of Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state, and mainly plays a figurehead role.

That said, her word is final when dealing with constitutional matters.

"I think that my presence is required in the country, so I'll be leaving tomorrow ... it certainly requires a lot of attention," she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., saying she did not know what Harper's intentions were.

The opposition Liberals, New Democrats and separatist Bloc Quebecois signed an unprecedented deal on Monday to bring down Harper and create a coalition government that would keep them in power until at least June 30, 2010.

The opposition says Harper is not doing enough to tackle the financial crisis.

Speculation is mounting that Harper -- facing his worst crisis since first winning power in January 2006 -- will seek to shut down Parliament until a budget the government has promised for January 27.

Asked what she would do if Harper asked her to shut down Parliament, Jean replied: "I think first the prime minister and myself need to have a conversation that we haven't had yet. And as soon as I get back to Ottawa, my door is open."

The opposition leaders have sent Jean a letter saying they would be ready to govern if need be.

The Canadian capital has not seen such tension and political uncertainty since a failed 1995 referendum in Quebec on whether the province should break away from Canada.

CanWest News quoted Harper as telling Conservative officials on Monday evening that "we will use all legal means to resist this undemocratic seizure of power."

Ottawa says the coalition deal showed the opposition were twisting the rules of democracy. The Conservatives won a strengthened minority in an Oct 14 election.

"It used to be in Canadian politics that you had to win an election in order to become the prime minister of this country," Heritage Minister James Moore said on Tuesday.

Moore told CTV television that the Liberals and the New Democrats had lied to Canadians during the campaign when they promised not to form a coalition.

"Now they're entering into an agreement, giving the balance of power to Quebec separatists and Canadians are rightly outraged by this ... it's not what Canadians voted for."

The Bloc wants independence for French-speaking Quebec but said on Monday this aim was trumped for now by the crisis.

The parties promised a major stimulus package as well as help for the struggling auto industry.

The opposition parties said the new prime minister would be Liberal leader Stephane Dion, who led his party to such a bad defeat on October 14 that he has promised to step down once members choose a replacement in May.

If Harper lets the confidence vote go ahead, he would run a big risk of losing.

The three opposition parties are also angry that Harper last week tried to eliminate public financing for political parties, a move that would hit them particularly hard.

The Globe and Mail, which endorsed Harper in the election, ran a lead article savaging what it called his "horrendous miscalculations" and suggested he consider quitting.

It also said Dion was "a humbled and defeated party leader ... (who) has never earned the right to govern."

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Frank McGurty)

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