This strikes me as a perfectly sensible solution to the problem of MPs who are too sick to make it to the Commons:

Mr. Hill went on to say that the Conservatives, in turn, would be willing to pair if Natural Resources Minister John Efford were unable to make it to the House next week. Mr. Efford, who suffers from diabetes, is undergoing tests to remedy a fluctuating blood-sugar level. He has promised to be back in the House for the vote next Thursday. But if it would be better for him to stay in St. John's, then the pairing of Mr. Efford and Mr. Stinson, and Mr. Chatters and an NDP MP, would make eminent sense.

In evading the NDP's offer, Harper looks shifty. Even if the concern is that "paired" MPs might renege and show up to vote anyway, that is surely remedied, as Ibbitson remarks, by making the arrangement public. That still doesn't answer the question of why the budget vote should be put off until Thursday -- nine days after the government lost the confidence of the House -- or why any of us should pretend the Liberals are still in power. UPDATE: Harper has accepted the NPD's offer to pair off Stinson with Ed Broadbent, who will sit out the vote.