At the time of this writing, the three opposition parties continue to threaten to try to take over Parliament if they don’t approve the contents of the budget being delivered on January 27.

Do they believe that this intimidation is healthy for a country that’s teetering on the brink of an economic dilemma? This ill-conceived three-party coalition sends a message that is completely counterproductive to Canada’s quest for economic stability. Any foreign company that is looking for new a marketplace for investment is going to flip the page when they see our government being held for ransom. Canadians deserve better, and it’s important that they let the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois know that enough is enough.

There is some hope that new Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has less of an appetite for a coalition than did his predecessor, Stéphane Dion. For his part, however, Mr. Ignatieff is keeping the spectre of a coalition alive, which shows neither good leadership nor decisiveness. He is intentionally keeping Canadians on tenterhooks in an effort to keep the government off balance. Unfortunately, he is exploiting the situation to ensure the hand-wringing continues. We should all be asking if Canada could somehow benefit from a Liberal treaty with the NDP and the Bloc. How could Mr. Ignatieff even consider joining forces with a political party that is bent upon destroying Canada’s unity?

It is important to note that our government invited budget negotiations with the Liberals. We have consulted with provincial and territorial finance ministers. And most important of all, we have asked Canadians to provide their opinions on what the Budget 2009 priorities should be, as outlined in one of my previous columns.

Let’s all remember that if the opposition parties join together to bring the government down with a non-confidence vote on the budget, they will be ignoring what many Canadians said they want. The coalition would be casting aside the information that this government painstakingly gathered from you, the people.

This government has a plan to help ride out the global economic downturn, and it was kick-started three budgets ago by lowering taxes. We have helped to put money in the pockets of Canadians by not collecting it in the first place. The previous government amassed huge surpluses by hitting taxpayers much harder than necessary. Budget 2009 will continue our effort to let Canadians decide where to invest and how to spend their wages. Prosperity is all about letting the people choose how, when and where to invest their own money.

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The audio version of Garry's January 5, 2009 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here