One Ultimatum, Two Ultimatum, Three!

OTTAWA - Opposition party leaders warned yesterday they are willing to bring down Stephen Harper's minority government if it does not change its course -- particularly on the Tory promise to provide a child-care subsidy to parents -- in the next two weeks.

In separate meetings with the Prime Minister, interim Liberal leader Bill Graham and the Bloc Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe reminded the Conservative leader his party is outnumbered in the House of Commons and urged him to compromise on the government agenda as he drafts his Throne Speech.

The speech, which will be delivered by Governor-General Michaelle Jean on April 4, sets out the agenda for the coming parliamentary session and will be passed or defeated in a confidence vote that could spark another election.

Mr. Graham insisted the Liberals are willing to face the consequences of a confidence vote even though they won't have a new leader until December and are still struggling with the fallout of the party's defeat in January.

He laid out his party's well-known concerns about the Tory agenda, including the fate of a $5-billion deal -- signed by the Liberals last year -- to improve living conditions for aboriginals, opposition to a cut to the Goods and Services Tax and Mr. Harper's promise to pull out of child-care agreements that were also signed by the previous Liberal government.

"We'll make our decision about how to vote when we see the Speech from the Throne," Mr. Graham said. He noted the New Democrats and the Bloc joined with the Conservatives last November to kill several initiatives they now want to see passed.

Despite Mr. Graham's threat, his party is ill-suited to face an election until at least 2007. The Liberal executive agreed last weekend to hold a leadership convention in December to replace former prime minister Paul Martin.

Mr. Graham pointedly refused to say whether he was prepared to lead his party into an election if Mr. Harper's government suffered a quick defeat. He called one reporter's scenario "hypothetical."

Mr. Layton, who met with his opposition counterparts yesterday but not with Mr. Harper, shares Liberal opposition to the Conservative plan to give parents $1,200 a year for every child younger than six. The Tories will cancel a Liberal plan that involved sending money to provinces to set up institutional daycare programs.

Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow has suggested opposition parties use their majority to pass legislation protecting the Liberal initiative.

The Bloc, with 51 seats in the House of Commons, also wants to see Ottawa respect the child-care agreement signed with Quebec Premier Jean Charest. But unlike his opposition counterparts, Mr. Duceppe struck a less-than-dire tone following his meeting with the Prime Minister, perhaps encouraged by Mr. Harper's high-profile overtures to the province since being elected.

Warning that his party's support will be considered on an "issue-by-issue" basis, he said Mr. Harper has made encouraging promises but must now begin to deliver on them.

"It seems there's a place for a new approach, but we have to see concretely what these things will be," he told reporters.

Mr. Duceppe said the Conservative leader promised to "find a way" to respect the child-care agreement with the Quebec government, which already has an institutional daycare system, but did not explain further.

Other Bloc concerns include guaranteeing Quebec a seat at international cultural forums, respecting the Kyoto environmental treaty and ensuring a vote for future military deployments -- not including the current mission in Afghanistan.

Mr. Harper promised he would consult with opposition party leaders on his Throne Speech before Parliament opens in April, but cautioned them not to become too hopeful or too insistent with their demands.

"It will ultimately be my decision and the decision of our Cabinet how much we accept," he told reporters just after the election.

"We've run on a series of priorities that are very clear and I think are popular with Canadians, and I think Canadians expect us to pursue those priorities