Why are the federal Liberals so spineless?

I just heard a news item that said that even though Stéphane Dion is fully against the Tory policies and now their mini-budget, he's so afraid of triggering an election that he is going to support all these measures.

Last time I checked, the majority of Canadians did not vote for the Tories and their policies. More Canadians voted for parties other than the Conservatives than for them. This means that the will of Canadians is to oppose these policies. The voters who supported the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are seeing their elected representatives following their wishes. Those who voted for the Liberals must be disappointed that the candidates they voted for are not.

Let's be clear here: the Liberals are in *big* trouble. They really did shoot themselves in the foot by selecting Stéphane Dion as their leader. They chose a leader who was deeply associated with Jean Chrétien and therefore, by association, the sponsorship scandal, as well as the poster boy for the Clarity Act, and then wonder why the Liberals are doing so dismally in Quebec. But that's neither here nor there.

Sure, if an election were to be held, the Liberals would do even worse. Perhaps a lot worse. Maybe so badly that this would even hand the Tories a majority (shudder). But then that would be the choice of Canadian voters, and this would then give the Tories actual democratic legitimacy to pass their policies, instead of the current situation where they are passing their policies by stealth, taking advantage of an ineffective opposition.

I'm tired of hearing politicians telling us during election time that they are going to "stand up for Canada" and do the right thing, and then once in the House of Commons they act only in their own political interests rather than for the greater good of the country.