In yesterday's editorial, the Toronto Star issued a warning to Stephane Dion. Overthrow the government over Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's GST cut.

Or else...but the punishment for not overthrowing the government was not spelled out.

Well, today we learned what the "or else" is. Of course, Stephane Dion did not cause the Stephen Harper's government to fall. Again, the Liberals denounced the mini-budget, and then abstained from the confidence vote -- all of them. The entire caucus.

As punishment for not taking the advice of the Toronto Star editorial board, Stephane Dion's credibility as the Liberal leader has been called into question:

At what point does Liberal Leader Stephane Dion take a stand and say: "No More! It is time to change this government"?

That's a question well worth asking after Dion and his Liberal MPs abstained yesterday from voting in the House of Commons on the minority Conservative government's tax-slashing mini-budget. And it is one worth considering in light of Dion's earlier willingness to give tacit approval to the Conservative throne speech and other measures, such as a get-tough-on-crime agenda and a weak environmental plan, while at the same time the Liberals insist they oppose much of what Prime Minister Stephen Harper proposes to do.

Is there a line across which Harper cannot go without the Liberals bringing down this government?

The Toronto Star goes on to list Stephen Harper's crimes against Canadians, decisions that the Toronto Star doesn't like that Stephen Harper has managed to implement over the last two years despite only having a minority government. Of course, in a minority government, nothing gets done without the help of at least one of the opposition parties. Still, the blame was all Stephen Harper's.

Until now. Whatever Stephen Harper has done, it is Stephane Dion who is now assigned the responsibility:

Unfortunately, as they demonstrated yesterday in allowing the mini-budget to pass, the Liberals are letting Harper reshape Canada according to his own vision. The $60 billion in tax cuts contained in the mini-budget could have been better spent tackling issues that Dion ranks as his priorities, namely climate change and poverty.

On the issue of poverty, Dion's alternative throne speech talked about doing more "to support early learning and child care, post-secondary education and lifelong learning" and doing "everything we can to help parents climb over the welfare wall so they can provide the stability and security their children need." But how does he propose to do that after letting Harper allocate the federal surplus for tax cuts?

In the closing paragraphs, the hammer comes down:

In his essay for the Star, Dion also said he wants to build "the richest, fairest and greenest country in the world."

He cannot do that, though, by continually propping up the Harper Conservatives. And he cannot do it if he won't tell Canadians what his bottom line is before his party will defeat the government. Is there one issue that will force him to act? Hasn't Harper done enough already in his bid to reverse or discredit the progressive social policies introduced by previous Liberal governments?

These are questions Dion needs to answer immediately if he hopes to maintain any credibility with the voters.

The Toronto Star is alluding to the fact that weeks ahead of the Throne Speech, Stephane Dion had already listed several issues that would prompt him to topple the government. In the Throne Speech, the Conservative government essentially laughed at all of them, and Stephane Dion allowed the government to stand, too afraid to go to the voters.

So now the Toronto Star wants Stephane Dion to name one issue that is really, really, non-negotiable.

Of course, Stephane Dion can't do that. In part, because if that issue exists, naming it would hand the power to Stephen Harper to cause an election. When he felt the time was right, all he would do is create a bill that runs counter to the Liberal position on that issue. The Liberals vote it down, and assuming the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois haven't changed their tactics, the government falls.

The other reason Stephane Dion can't do that is because that issue probably doesn't exist. I doubt there is anything so important that Stephane Dion would fight an election over it unless it looked like the Liberals would win. Or at least not lose badly. And to be fair to Stephane Dion, reports suggest that nervous MPs were at least as responsible for deciding that the Liberals would not fight an election over the Throne Speech.

I suppose Stephane Dion could say there is a line that cannot be crossed, but that he would not say what that line is. Actually, I hope he does. The magnitude of the laughter that would ensue would be one for the record books.

Seriously, though, the Toronto Star has sent a message to Stephane Dion. He ought not to be worried about the credibility he is risking with the voters. It is the credibility with the Toronto Star that is handing by a thread. As a pro-Liberal paper, the Toronto Star is clearly fed up with being associated with Stephane Dion.

Either Stephane Dion stops being Stephane Dion, or we might read in the next Toronto Star editorial how it is time for the Liberals to get a new leader, whatever the cost.