LATEST NEWS:Stephen Harper is under threat of no confidence vote.

News from The Canadian Press.

The battle for public opinion is on as opposition parties try to cobble together a government-in-waiting and Tory MPs denounce the effort as an illegitimate power grab.

Reprieved for a week from a potential defeat in the Commons, Tory MPs hit the airwaves on Saturday and fanned out in their ridings, armed with talking points issued by the prime minister's office.

They are getting out the double message that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is dedicated to rescuing the economy while the opposition is bent on backroom machinations to seize power.

Pierre Poilievre, Harper's parliamentary secretary, told CBC Newsworld the opposition parties are focused on power while Harper is looking at the economy.

"We have a prime minister fixated on the economy and a group of Liberals, separatists and socialists fixated on taking control." he said.

Liberal and NDP officials continued dickering Saturday about a possible coalition that would be prepared to form a government if Harper is defeated a week from Monday.

The NDP caucus arranged a mid-morning teleconference on Saturday to discuss the situation.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and NDP Leader Jack Layton spoke by phone Friday night.

They and the Bloc Quebecois say they will vote Harper out because of his lacklustre economic package brought down earlier this week by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

They would then offer their coalition government - and a promise of Bloc support if not actual participation - to Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean.

Jean would then have to decide whether to give the coalition a chance to govern or dissolve Parliament and send the country into a new election just two months after the last.

Constitutional experts say precedents suggest that Jean won't grant a dissolution.

Harper has delayed the critical vote for a week, but is refusing to back down from his economic plans or from his proposal to end public subsidies for political parties, a move which would virtually bankrupt his opponents.

Poilievre said the opposition is thinking only of its own money.

"Isn't it interesting that the opposition parties say they can't manage their own finances and that's why they need to take over the government and run the nation's finances?"

However, both Liberal and NDP officials claimed their parties have been deluged with supportive calls and e-mails from people outraged that the government is indulging in partisan gamesmanship while the economy burns.

Moreover, they attacked Harper for decrying their efforts to form a coalition when he himself participated in a similar venture in 2004 to replace the minority Liberal government of Paul Martin.

"He has proven to be the patron saint of hypocrisy," Liberal finance critic Scott Brison said in an interview.

"Canadians can't trust a word their prime minister says. He's proven he will say anything and do anything to hold on to power."

Brison said Harper should have used the global economic crisis to try to unite Canadians and get parliamentarians working together on solutions. Instead, he said Harper has so poisoned the atmosphere in Parliament that it's hard to see how a crisis can be averted.

"I see virtually no possibility of Stephen Harper being able to earn back the trust of this Parliament."

Both Brison and NDP House Leader Libby Davies denied that the coalition talks were more about saving their parties' share of public financing. They insisted the real issue is the failure to stimulate the economy or offer aid to the struggling auto, manufacturing and forestry sectors.

"The government failed Canadians," Davies said. "They did not bring forth the kind of significant economic stimulus that we've seen in all other G7 countries."

She said the country is at a critical point:

"We're at this incredibly important moment in the country. Mr. Harper had a chance last week, Mr. Flaherty had a chance on Thursday to really show that they could rise above their pettiness and put the public interest first.

"They really blew that."

YEAAAAAHHHHH BABY I LOVE THIS!

HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!The Conservatives is going down!HAHAHAHAHAHA!2 months old of government HAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!

Yeah,after I return back to Calgary from Mexico,I'll throw eggs to those Conservative nuts who threw to my car on Election Day!I swear I will do this.Yes.

Stephen Harper are you listening,
Keep our seats shine and glistering,
Coz when you're idiot as people's say,
And we will take it away,
Walking in Rideau Hall wonderland!