With the federal budget looming and the opposition's attack on government ethics in full swing, is a call to the polls this spring all but inevitable?

The sabre-rattling reached a peak Thursday, as Opposition MPs from the Commons procedures and House affairs committee tabled a draft motion declaring the Government in contempt of Parliament.

The motion, which is a directive to committee staff charged with producing the formal document expected next Monday, specifies the Government's refusal to produce full cost estimates for its crime legislation and corporate tax cuts, impeding the work of Parliament.

The committee was spurred into action after unprecedented rulings by House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken found that the minority Conservative Government breached parliamentary privilege by refusing to fully disclose full cost estimates for its justice agenda, corporate tax cuts, and plans to purchase stealth fighter jets.

He also ruled that International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda -- due in the hot seat when the committee resumes for its third and final day of hearings on Friday -- breached parliamentary privilege by misleading MPs about an altered funding document.

Although none have admitted it yet, CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said the Opposition's full-court press on ethics is aimed at not only toppling Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Tories, but also framing the headline ballot box question.

"It now looks pretty certain that this Parliament is certainly dead," Fife told CTV's Canada AM. "That's it, there's no going back from the brink."

And if the call to the polls is inevitable, Fife says the first election battle will be between the Conservatives' bread and butter economic issues versus the Liberals' preferred focus on painting the government as autocratic, undemocratic and lacking ethics.

Scrutinizing the opinions of voters, pollster Nik Nanos said whether the Government falls on the budget or issues of its transparency could make a big difference at the ballot box.

While the prime minister would undoubtedly prefer to frame the vote around his government's handling of the economy, the opposition would rather focus on his perceived abuse of power, Nanos told Canada AM.

"The polling shows that the Conservatives still have a strength in terms of economic stewardship," he said, explaining that allegations of scandal leveled against top Tory politicians or party officials could distract voters from Harper's campaign focus on jobs, the economy and taxes.

Four Conservative party officials, including two Senators, have been charged with breaking election spending laws. And it was revealed Thursday the man once known as Harper's Mr. Fix-It, Bruce Carson, is under RCMP investigation on allegations of influence peddling since he left the Prime Minister's Office last year.

According to Nanos, as allegations of scandal edge closer to the prime minister himself, there's bound to be some blowback.

"All their advertising, positive and negative, has been about leadership. It's the 'Harper Government', and when you have something this close to the prime minister it's probably going to shake his personal numbers in the polls."

Unless the prime minister gets entangled in an outright criminal scandal, however, Nanos doubts breaches of parliamentary procedure or electioneering rules will really get voters fired up.

Monitoring the politicking on Parliament Hill, Fife believes the opposition is willing and determined to put that to the test as soon as they can.

Their first, best opportunity to topple the government will likely come next Friday, March 25, when they will have the chance to set the agenda during a so-called opposition day in the House. It's expected they will grab the opportunity to present the House with a vote of non-confidence in the Government, based on a shopping list of its perceived failings.

Leading up to that day, however, political junkies are sure to get a potent fix with the contempt motion on Monday followed by the budget on the following day, March 22.

If their motion on breach of privilege passes before that, Harper's Conservatives would be the first government in Canadian history to be found in contempt of Parliament. There is also some small chance the government could put the budget to an early vote, but whatever happens, Fife believes the outcome will be the same.

"We're into an election period without a doubt and it'll probably be for May 2nd," he said.