Canadian politics, always so dependably and historically dull, rose this week into the realm of high drama. It featured a government that refused to resign, though it had been defeated in a crucial parliamentary vote. It presented disclosures of base bribery in high places that sounded like they came straight out of "The Godfather." Finally, it produced the astonishing spectacle of a prime minister stalling for time on the possibility that two political opponents, stricken with cancer, will either die or collapse within the next seven days and thereby save his government. All told, however, this gave the opposition one...