After a week of speculation -- fanned by the leader's inexplicable decision to volunteer his opinion that coalitions are "perfectly legitimate" and he'd be prepared to lead one -- the Liberal-NDP merger story was starting to run out of steam. Then along came Warren. Former Jean Chretien advisor Warren Kinsella, who briefly worked in Mr. Ignatieff's office last year, told the CBC "serious people are involved in discussions at a serious level."

He swore an affidavit yesterday saying that Alfred Apps, the Liberal party's president, told him there were high-level discussions involving retired NDP politicians. When Mr. Apps then insisted he has not engaged in ''serious discussions'' on the topic, out came another former Liberal, John Mraz, who said Mr. Apps told him he was involved in discussions that included not only Mr. Chretien and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, but also former Progressive Conservatives such as Joe Clark.

This may all have been pure mischief-making by Mr. Kinsella, who didn't leave the Opposition Leader's Office on the best of terms. He must have known that this would land like a stink bomb in the Liberal caucus and once again make the party the story, at a time when they are desperately trying to make government misspending the issue.

There may even be some truth to it, in the form of casual discussions between emeritus politicians like Mr. Chretien and the former NDP premier of Saskatchewan, Roy Romanow. Continued...