Montreal  - Prime Minister Stephen Harper won an important and historic tactical victory Thursday in his no-holds-barred confrontation with combined forces of the opposition.

But the crisis has also whipped political sentiments in Canada up to a level of aggression not seen for decades in Canadian politics, with strident and searing comments about treason and sedition against an opposition alliance with Quebec separatists.

Ottawa  - Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday appealed to Canadians to support his minority government and vowed to fight a no-confidence vote in parliament by the opposition.

In a nationally-televised address Harper accused the opposition on Wednesday evening of wanting to overturn the results of the latest general elections only seven weeks after the poll.

Canada's government would fight its opponents by all means at its disposal to prevent them from forming a coalition government to replace his own, Harper said.

TORONTO, Dec. 3  -- Toronto city councilors voted to impose a 5-cent fee on plastic shopping bags at supermarkets next year to help with landfill costs.

After the 30-13 vote that included other environmental measures, Toronto Mayor David Miller said the concept of "free" bags was a fallacy, the Toronto Star reported.

"There's a cost to the city and the people of Toronto in disposing of them, there's a cost to the environment and there's a cost to the retailers," Miller said.

The measure will go into effect in June.

Montreal - In a stunning reversal of political fortunes, the leader of Canada's official opposition, Stephane Dion, was poised to become the country's next prime minister despite having lost the October 14 federal election.

Dion, who just six weeks ago was forced to step down as Liberal leader after the party's worst-ever electoral performance, emerged as the compromise candidate to lead a centre-left coalition formed Monday among the Liberal Party and the socialist New Democratic Party (NDP), aiming to unseat the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Ottawa, Dec. 2 : In a political coup, Canada''s three opposition parties have joined hands to oust the just elected minority government of .

Leaders of the country''s three main opposition parties presented their plan to topple Harper''s minority government at a press conference in Ottawa late on Monday afternoon.

According to the Globe and Mail, the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois publicly signed a coaltion accord and sent a letter to Governor-General Michaëlle Jean saying the opposition has lost confidence in the Conservatives.

Quebec City, Canada - Many travellers to Scandinavia are familiar with ice hotels, edifices of frozen water that beckon guests with the prospect of an overnight stay in arctic-like cold. There is one such hotel in North America - in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec.

This winter, it will be open from January 4 to March 29.

The only warm things at the Hotel de Glace are the candles on the bedside tables. The air is so cold you can see your breath, which adheres in tiny droplets to the opening of your sleeping bag. The tip of your nose feels numb - almost as though it were frozen. Getting up for a little while, drinking a glass of milk or going to the toilet seem impossible without risking death.