Stage set for fall election showdown

SUDBURY, Ont. — Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has set the stage for a fall election, warning Prime Minister Stephen Harper: "Your time is up."

But the minority Conservative government could yet survive thanks to an unlikely ally - the NDP now says it may prop up Harper if he's willing to work with them.Ignatieff delivered a fiery, campaign-style speech to his caucus Tuesday, announcing that the party will no longer support the Tories.

"Mr. Harper, your time is up," he told cheering MPs and senators in Sudbury."The Liberal party cannot support this government any further ... We will hold Stephen Harper to account and we will oppose his government."Liberal MP Bob Rae later said the party will present a motion of non-confidence at the first opportunity, which will come the first week of October.That seemed to seal the fate of the government - and set the stage for a November election - given that the Tories would need the support of the NDP or Bloc Quebecois, both of whom have consistently voted against Harper.

But New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair immediately offered an olive branch."What I'm saying is: the last thing Canadians want is a fourth general election in five years and we'd better have a bloody good reason for forcing a fourth general election in five years."So if Mr. Harper goes about being provocative as he has been in the past, going after key things that Canadians hold dearly like women's rights and the environment, then we'll throw him out of office because he'll have provoked it. "If, on the other hand, Stephen Harper comes into Parliament with a willingness to work in the public interest, then we're going to take it on a case-by-case basis. Our caucus will decide."