By Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised in a rare televised address on Wednesday to use "every legal means" to block a plan by opposition parties to replace his minority Conservative government.
The Liberals and New Democrats -- with the written support of the separatist Bloc Quebecois -- are vowing to defeat Harper in a confidence vote on Monday and form a coalition government.
Harper is widely expected on Thursday to go to the country's governor general and ask her to suspend Parliament until his government delivers a budget on January 27.
"At a time like this, a coalition with separatists cannot help Canada," said a soft-spoken Harper. "Tonight I pledge to you that Canada's government will use every legal means at our disposal to protect our democracy, to protect our economy and to protect Canada."
The address was the first nationally televised appeal by a Canadian prime minister since 2005 when Paul Martin pleaded for extra time for his minority Liberal government.
"This is a pivotal moment in our history," said Harper, pointing out his Conservatives won an increased minority in an election just seven weeks ago.
"The opposition does not have the democratic right to impose a coalition with the separatists they promised voters would never happen."
The Bloc wants independence for French-speaking Quebec.
The opposition complains there was little in the government's recent fiscal statement to combat the economic slowdown, but what galvanized them was a government attempt -- now abandoned -- to cut off direct financial subsidies to political parties, a move they described as a purely partisan action by the Conservatives.
APPEALING TO PUBLIC OPINION
Harper looks set on Thursday to visit Governor General Michaelle Jean. She is the representative of Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state, and has the final word on such constitutional matters.
Liberal leader Stephane Dion, who would become prime minister if the coalition has its way, wrote her to say suspending Parliament would be wrong since Harper had lost the confidence of the House of Commons.
"You cannot accept this violation of our constitution and this affront to our parliamentary democracy," he wrote.
While both sides in the political crisis were crafting constitutional arguments as to what Jean should do, they were also trying to appeal to public opinion, including a series of planned rallies and Harper's televised address.
The Conservatives say the opposition attempt to replace the government would amount to a coup, and some of their members of Parliament sported buttons with a red line through the word "coup."
The opposition says the Conservatives have lost the support of the House of Commons and must face a confidence vote they would likely lose. The vote set for next Monday would not take place if Harper's request to suspend Parliament is approved by the governor general.
"Instead of facing that test, he's like the student who's standing outside the classroom pulling the fire alarm before he has to write the exam," Liberal Scott Brison told reporters.
It has not been an easy sell for the coalition, with some Canadians asking how it could be that Dion, whose party's performance in the October election was its worst since Canada was founded in 1867, would end up as prime minister.
The opposition parties insist it is both democratic and proper for them to come together to try to form a new government if the Conservatives lose the confidence of the House.
(Additional reporting by Louise Egan; Editing by Peter Cooney)
