MY COLUMN on last night's festivities ("Government by technicality") is up. The gist of it is this: it doesn't matter what procedural niceties you dress it up in, it's the intent of the Commons that matters. And the House has clearly signalled it wants the government gone. If Parliament could pass any resolution it likes, and chose this peculiarly convoluted one, there would be room for some doubt as to its intentions. But it was forced to move this particular resolution only because the government wouldn't let it vote on any other. So it's a bit rich for the Grits to then turn around and say the resolution's meaning is unclear. I understand the Liberals -- I hesitate to call them the government -- are now saying they will bring forward a budget bill -- possible responses: 1) at last! 2) which one? -- next Thursday. Under normal circumstances, I'd be tempted to say, what's a week? But this bunch has shown it can spend better than $10-billion in that time. That was barely tolerable before, but after losing a vote of non-confidence it would be an outrage: it has no right to be spending a nickel of our money. So the Tories, at a minimum, should insist that if the Liberals are to be permitted to hang on that long, they must agree to refrain from committing the government to any additional expenditures beyond those already authorized. But why wait until then? If the government can table its budget next Thursday, it can do so this Thursday. If it is illegitimate today, it will be doubly so tomorrow. If it governs even for a day, it does so in a constitutional vacuum. UPDATE: The Tories aren't fools. Well, some of them are, but Harper isn't:

Martin’s announcement Wednesday that he will bring his budget implementation bill to a vote next week brought immediate scorn from Stephen Harper, who accused Martin of using a pending royal visit a campaign backdrop to extend his tenuous grip on power. “We’re not going to wait another week so the prime minister can use the Queen as a prop,” the Conservative leader said, referring to the monarch’s visit next week to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Then Harper went further. “We’re not going to play another week so that he can hope the health of some members of Parliament deteriorates.” He was referring to two Tory MPs and one Independent who are undergoing treatment for cancer.

Holy Christ. That hadn't even occurred to me. UPPERDATE: Patrick Monahan, dean of Osgoode Hall law school, interviewed on CBC this morning, said the government must bring in a confidence vote "within a couple of days." The Globe and Mail says it must do so "immediately." So when Harper demands a vote today, and Martin says next week, which one will the Globe side with tomorrow? How soon is now?