Come again? Did he say "coalition"? Photograph by: Ashley Fraser , Postmedia News

"I think that most jurisdictions that have a system of first-past-the-post or proportional representation will, from time to time, have coalitions or amalgamation of different parties and that's the way democracy sorts itself out."

— Gov. Gen. David Johnston, December 2010

Come again? Did he say "coalition"?

Rideau Hall's resident legal scholar was speaking generally, of course, when he offered these thoughts in an interview a few months ago while discussing the challenges facing countries with minority governments.

But the "sorting out" scenario that Gov. Gen. David Johnston was referring to may not be hypothetical for very long, depending on the results of the May 2 federal election.

This week, in separate CBC interviews that quickly drew "coalition" accusations from Conservative leader Stephen Harper, both Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP leader Jack Layton said the election of a Tory minority and its subsequent defeat in a divided House of Commons would — in keeping with Canada's parliamentary traditions — prompt discussions between Johnston and opposition leaders about the formation of an alternative government.

If the Conservatives or any other first-place party loses the confidence of the House, Layton said Monday, "some other party gets a shot at it. We shouldn't immediately go back to an election — that would be ridiculous."

Layton added: "In the parliamentary tradition, what they call a Westminster tradition, the Governor General, in our case, would turn to another party, and say, 'Can you form a government? Can you form a workable government that would have support of the House?' "

Ignatieff followed on Tuesday by saying: "If Mr. Harper wins the most seats, forms a government but does not secure the confidence of the House — and I'm assuming Parliament comes back — then it goes to the Governor General. That's what happens."

He added: "And then if the Governor General wants to call on other parties — myself, for example — to try to form a government, then we try to form a government. That's exactly how the rules work."

While the civics lessons offered by Layton and Ignatieff sounded innocuous enough — with Johnston performing the textbook functions of a viceregal representative at the symbolic centre of Canada's constitutional monarchy — they are proving to be anything but.

In an election campaign propelled by Harper's repeated warnings about the spectre of a "reckless" or "ramshackle" coalition government taking power if he fails to win a majority, the Liberal and NDP leaders' acknowledgments of possible post-election co-operation in Parliament were politically provocative.

And that is bound to complicate the 69-year-old Johnston's role in the potential parliamentary drama that lies ahead.

Harper has bluntly described as "illegitimate" the idea of opposition parties defeating the Tories in the House and then — without another election — forming an arrangement to govern. He insists today — though has not always held the view — that only the first-place party has a mandate from voters to exercise power.

"You don't try and form a government if you lost the election. That is not legitimate," Harper told reporters at the front steps of Rideau Hall on March 26, after meeting with Johnston to formally dissolve Parliament and kick-start the election campaign. "If Canadians elect the other party, even by a minority, you respect that judgment. It is illegitimate to attempt to overturn that. And if you want to overturn it, you go back to the people and get a mandate to do so."