Angry in the Great White North

Murray Dobbin interviews Elizabeth May:

Murray Dobbin: What has to happen to ensure that the Conservatives do not get a majority in the next election?

Elizabeth May: The solutions lie in some fundamental changes because we are a multi-party society in a two-party voting system. We either have to move to a system of proportional representation or we have to change our attitude towards minority governments and decide we are going to make them work. I still feel that the aborted coalition was a very hopeful thing even to just have had it floated on the political stage. I regret Ignatieff's decision not to follow through with what had been set out as a workable modus operandi between the Liberals and the NDP to avoid Stephen Harper continuing his government.

OK, the phrase she is looking for is modus vivendi not modus operandi.

A modus vivendi is the means by which two parties of differing opinions manage to work together.  It literally means "means of living".

A modus operandi is the way by which one party works, typically used in the sense of profiling the habitual way in which that party works.

Given that the coalition between the Liberals and NDP represented a departure for both parties in the way they usually work, it is clearly not a modus operandi for either party.

Like I said, a niggling gripe.  Maybe I expect too much of our politicians when it comes to their skills with language.  Maybe I should just tolerate people like Elizabeth May making a verbal mess of English when they are trying to sound like someone better educated than the rest of us.

That's my modus vivendi with Elizabeth May -- I'll just ignore what she says, and her ignorance won't annoy me so much.