OK this is kind of interesting. First of all a little background.

Candada has four main political parties, and also some fringe parties. When you vote in Canada, techically you are voting for the local representative of one of the parties. The winner of a Canadian election is the party that has the most representatives elected to parliament. Because there are more than two parties, it is possible to have a minority government, which means that the governing party has less representatives than the total of all the other parties combined. This is the current situation, a minority government. The Conservative Party (Right Wing) currently forms the government.

OK, so it seems that the three main opposition parties, Liberal, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, all left wing, have formed a coalition. The plan to defeat the Conservatives in a confidence vote next Monday. They have indicated they wish to form a new government rather than force an election. They can do this. It is most likely that this coalition will assume the reins of power and function as a single party. A less likely scenario is that the governor general of Canada, who is ostensibly a representative of the Queen, can decide to call an election.

This sort of event has not happened in Canada in over 80 years, governments have been defeated more recently, but elections have been forced, not the coalition assuming power.

It's kind of strange, a major shift in who is running the country, that does not come about as the result of an election. Strange for a major western democracy anyways.

IMO a few Canadians may get upset, most will shrug their shoulders, and life will go on. Myself I'm not too concerned.

I am pretty sure that this sort of thing can't happen in the US, and if it did, people would go berserk.

Here'a the full details if you are interested.

CANOE -- CNEWS - Politics: Opposition signs coalition deal