The week ahead promises to be an interesting one, even if the end result looks more and more certain by the day.

The Liberal opposition day and the supply vote on spending estimates have been shifted from Monday to Friday, allowing Flaherty to table his budget Tuesday. While the budget itself will never pass, it deserves close attention, since it will basically become the de facto Tory platform.

After that, we’ll be treated to a series of procedure tactics and votes, as the parties jockey to ensure the government falls on their terms. At this point, I don’t think it really matters how they fall – most voters will jumble the budget, ethical lapses, and a slew of confidence votes together. The exact trigger won’t make a huge difference.

Neither will who caused it, though we’ll certainly be treated to a round of the blame game. The truth is, all four parties share responsibility, and trying to assign blame is a colossal waste of time. Any of the three opposition parties could have avoided this by supporting the government, and the NDP’s demands were so meager, all Harper needed to do was toss them a few scraps to save his skin.

How the government falls and who’s responsible don’t matter in the least. But get ready to hear a lot about it in the week ahead.

UPDATE: Then again, there could be an undemocratic coalition deal with the socialists and/or the separatists in the works…