Prorogue basically means to temporarily shut down the workings of the parliament. It is a way for the government to hide from it's constitutional duty to address parliament, in this case avoiding a vote which could topple their hold on power.
In Canada, we do not elect a prime minister. We elect individual members of parliament. The group of members (usually a formal 'party) who have the largest group traditionally form the government, choosing from amongst themselves a Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers.
That group continues to hold the reins of power until they 'lose the confidence of the House'. Losing the confidence of the house has usually meant losing a vote in the House of Commons on what is called a 'money' bill. So they can lose a vote on the passage of a new law, but not on a budget, for instance. It happens VERY seldom.
When a government loses a confidence vote, they are expected to resign. Now, when they resign, the governor general chooses one of several options. These include calling an election, refusing the resignation (sending the government back to work it out like big boys, basically), or he/she can ask the opposition if they are prepared to form a government. That is what the current 'coalition' wants her to do.
It's worth noting that coalition governments are perfectly legal, perfectly acceptable. Remember, we did not elect a Prime Minister, we elected members, and those members are traditionally free to form any alliances or coalitions they choose (although going against the wishes of their voters is bad for business, so to speak). That is all that the current coalition is doing, they are forming a fresh grouping that happens to include members of two parties. It's legal, it's traditional, it's democratic in the most basic of ways. So everything Mr Harper went on about last night was hogwash and political spin, nothing else. This is the way it is SUPPOSED to work in a system such as ours.
BTW, the coalition is between the NDP and the Liberals, with the Bloc only agreeing to support them. They are not part of the coalition per se.
The agreement between the parties has them sharing cabinet posts. The Liberal leader will become PM, and the Finance Minister will be a Liberal. I'm not sure how they will divvy up the remaining posts, but they have undoubtedly worked that out.
I think it's a great example of democracy at work, a refreshing change from the boredom of the past couple of years.
EDit: actually, it is bill w's post which attempts to twist the facts. He apparently does not understand the way the Canadian political system works. As one university professor said yesterday (I paraphrase) "Mr Harper may prefer that we elect a Prime Minister directly, but we do not. If he wants it to be that way, he needs to change the constitution. As it stands now, the government governs only through maintaining the confidence of parliament."
That is our system, that IS how it works, and I repeat, this current coalition process is EXACTLY how it is supposed to work.