User blog comment:ML4E/Canadian Federal Election 2011/@comment-130447-20110329214105

Your interpretation is correct. In order to defeat the the last Conservative government, all three opposition parties had to vote against it. Any one could (and in fact did) support the government in a confidence matter. Several times it was the Bloc since Harper added items they supported to the particular piece of legislation.

When Dion tried to form the government after the last election, the fact that he needed Bloc support (even though they would not form part of the collation government and Dion is a stanchly anti-separation Francophone) turned off the public. So much so that, along with not winning the election, this led to Dion resigning as party leader and Ignatieff taking over. Harper, this election, continues to warn the public of some sort of hidden agenda involving a left wing coalition with the NDP and the Bloc.

Well done on the tangent. I'm unsure how the Bloc handle the oath of allegiance. The party agenda is to look out for Quebec's interests at the Federal level while it is part of the country so they may not view it as a conflict. Supporting this is that the Bloc formed when Brian Mulroney's attempts to amend the constitution and bring Quebec on board failed and his Quebec MPs bolted in protest to form the Bloc. This was 30 years ago so its hard to say.