MONTREAL–Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe says his party's agreement with the Liberal-New Democrat coalition is just as robust as it was before the Governor General prorogued Parliament last month.

Duceppe said yesterday he doesn't expect Prime Minister Stephen Harper to change his tone and meet the opposition's demands in Tuesday's federal budget.

"I'd be very surprised if he's coming with changes that are meeting the targets we proposed, so nothing's changed yet," Duceppe said before sitting down for a Bloc caucus meeting in Montreal.

He said the Liberal-NDP coalition, formed with the Bloc's support last month, has presented the best strategies to guide the country through the economic crisis.

"And most of those proposals came from the Bloc," Duceppe said.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has remained lukewarm about the idea of forming a coalition, which was initiated by his predecessor, Stéphane Dion.

Ignatieff has said the Liberals would support a "modest" temporary deficit to stimulate the economy, but has refused to specify exactly what "modest" means.

Harper, who met with Ignatieff on Monday, appeared to include the Liberals in his definition of an emerging compromise on the budget, which is needed to keep his minority government alive.

Duceppe, however, said he doesn't believe murmurs in the media that suggest Ignatieff has cozied up to Harper.

"Mr. Harper spoke about an emerging consensus – I don't know where he heard that," he said.

"I haven't seen it."

The coalition agreement is still intact but the opposition parties won't take their positions until the government presents its budget, the sovereignist leader said.

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"We'll see the facts, then we'll react," he said.

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