We know how that fight turned out -- and about Clay's brilliant career after changing his name to Muhammad Ali -- but no one should ever count out the Liberals, known for good reason as Canada's Natural Governing Party.

Though Conservative support has been climbing and the Liberals are in free fall, Harper has been wise not to precipitate an immediate election. For one thing, it's not clear he could win.

True, he has made remarkable progress in refashioning a viable, mainstream alternative to the Liberals. True, too, Canadians are aghast at the scale of Liberal corruption.

However, banking on the prospect that news from the Gomery inquiry would dominate a 36-day election campaign is risky; issues like missile defence, same-sex marriage or health care could easily come to the fore.

Besides, who's to say that Justice John Gomery would continue to hear testimony through an election campaign? Personally, I think it would be appropriate to adjourn the hearings so as not to affect the vote.

If an election were called today, Harper could win a minority government at best; you have to wonder, therefore, what the hurry is. Ideally, he should await the judge's report and recommendations; at minimum, he should not defeat the government until he has heard enough to prepare a credible plan to assure Canadians that the sponsorship scandal will never be repeated.

Let's be frank: Most of the abuses in party financing and government contracting could easily have taken place under a Conservative government, and many likely have. Indeed, some who want an early election to capitalize on public anger are no doubt eagerly anticipating their turn at the trough.

Gomery is making excellent progress in deciphering the scam, and the next few weeks will be eventful. Notwithstanding initial concerns over the appointment of two counsels with partisan links -- one Liberal, one Conservative -- Gomery's choice of Bernard Roy as lead commission counsel turns out to have been inspired.

No one ever doubted Roy's personal integrity when he served as principal secretary to former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Today, no one is better placed to help break up a system that has prevailed for too long.

Having participated in the 1984 election campaign, Roy understands the pressures on political parties to raise vast sums of money to purchase television advertising time. He understands that the volunteers who prepare the parties' election advertising, as former Conservative party pollster Allan Gregg once explained, are either unpaid or paid significantly below market value and compensated by contracts after the election. And he has had first-hand experience with the consultants and lobbyists who play a central role in the campaign.

Having served in Ottawa, Roy will also understand that the sponsorship program was not an anomaly. While most public servants are hard-working and dedicated, he will have few illusions about politicization at the senior levels. Like anyone else, he can count on one hand the number of deputy ministers or assistant deputy ministers who resigned during the Mulroney years.

In choosing Stephen Harper as its leader, the new Conservative party opted for integrity and middle-class values of frugality and hard work. Though the Liberals spent massively to demonize him in the last election campaign, Canadians have been gradually growing more comfortable with the prospect of a Conservative government.

Still, the majority remain to be persuaded, and they'll be watching Harper very closely in the coming weeks. Canadians have justifiably grown cynical about politics and politicians and they want their trust restored.

In today's climate, doing the right thing could very well turn out to be smart politics.

If he's wise, Harper will tell Canadians that there will be no election until he has heard enough about what went on during the Chretien years to ensure there's no repeat in the government he forms.