Will he or won't he? It doesn't matter

Stephen Harper still won't clarify what he would do in the hypothetical (but quite possible) situation in which the conservatives are the front-running party in a minority parliament, but he fails to hold the confidence of the house and the Governor General asks the second place party to form a government.

In fact, it doesn't matter what Stephen Harper thinks. The rules are clear. If the leader of the second place party, or an "unacceptable, reckless" coalition, accepts the request from the Governor General then that party or coalition can form the government. These are all valid outcomes, and Stephen Harper cannot veto the Governor General's actions or that of any of the other party leaders should they accept a request to form a government.

Mr. Harper got a lot of mileage out of his assertion that the election "forced" upon him was not one that the citizenry wanted; after all, he could go another two years or more if the opposition would just co-operate (e.g. by supporting all of his legislative agenda, and ignoring anything contemptible e.g. his failure to disclose the costing of his crime legislation). So, it seems a bit hypocritical that he might want to force another election within months of the last.

That seems to be exactly how "Harper's Rules" (that only the party with the most seats can form government) would play out, however. The real rules of Canada's constitutional monarchy permit an orderly transition to a new government without an election in this case. While Mr. Harper wouldn't like the outcome, it certainly seems a better alternative than entering into a new election immediately (or at least it would to anyone who isn't opposed on principal to a non-Conservative government).