Justin Trudeau may have made a dangerously limiting move by ruling out a coalition with the NDP, according to B.C. political analysts.

B.C. New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen was the first to float the idea of a coalition Thursday and he was quickly backed by party leader Thomas Mulcair, who said defeating the Conservatives should be a priority.

But despite the fact that his party is trailing in the polls, Liberal leader Trudeau replied that a formal coalition is “out of the question.”

Dismissing the idea of a coalition could leave Trudeau in a tricky situation if Canadians elect a minority government in the fall, according to Stewart Prest, a PhD candidate in political science at UBC.

“He’s ruled out one important option and limited his room to manoeuver, which, as a politician, is always a dangerous thing to do,” Prest said.

But he pointed out that there are risks in a coalition as well.

“The formal coalition has greater stability for both parties, and it ensures the junior party some access to government, but it also creates the link between the two parties, so each party in a sense becomes responsible for some positions that they themselves would rather not hold up,” he said.

David Moscrop, another PhD candidate at UBC, said now is the perfect time for Canadians to consider the possibility of a coalition government because polls suggest that the NDP, Liberals and Conservatives are in a three-way race.

“I’ve been trying to figure out whether Trudeau is just being disingenuous or whether he genuinely doesn’t understand that coalitions are a perfectly legitimate and democratic option,” Moscrop said.

He believes the Liberals are essentially “doomed” and don’t have a real chance of getting into power without the help of a coalition.

“It would benefit both parties and it would achieve what most Canadians want, which is a government that isn’t run by Stephen Harper,” he said.

But the challenge for any party that wants to discuss coalitions is public perception.

“People think that coalitions are undemocratic, which is a profoundly stupid point. If you can find a way to have 60 per cent or 65 per cent of voters represented in the government instead of 40, to me it seems more democratic because, you know, math,” Moscrop said.

Prest traces the widespread distrust of coalitions back to 2008, when the NDP and Liberals considered joining forces with the Bloc Quebecois.

“The idea of coalitions really seemed to take a beating in the minds of Canadians, and certainly the Conservatives were keen to discredit the idea,” he said.

The Liberals might consider swallowing their pride and joining a coalition in the event of an NDP minority win, according to Prest, but they’d be unlikely to do so if their party comes out ahead. Taking back a campaign promise “would be a pretty terrible way to start off a government,” he said.

Another option for cooperation would be joint nomination meetings, where left-leaning parties come together to pick a single candidate to run against the Conservatives.

Both Cullen and Vancouver Liberal MP Joyce Murray campaigned on that idea during their unsuccessful bids to lead their respective parties.