Federal Trade Minister Stockwell Day denied on Wednesday he was aware of a secret plan in 2000 for him to take power through a formal coalition between the Bloc Québécois, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives.

Trade Minister Stockwell Day speaks during Wednesday's question period in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)The Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday that well-known Calgary lawyer Gerry Chipeur, who identified himself as an associate of Day's and the now-defunct Alliance, sent a written offer to the Bloc and Joe Clark's Progressive Conservatives before the votes were counted on election day on Nov. 27, 2000.

The 2000 election saw Jean Chrétien's Liberals win another majority government before the 2004 reunification of the two conservative parties that now comprise Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

The paper said Chipeur's letter proposed a coalition between the Alliance, the PCs and the Bloc, while a separate document discussed contents of a potential throne speech.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe held up the letter during Wednesday's question period while grilling the former Alliance leader over the alleged plan, as well as over the Conservatives' apparent willingness to form a coalition with the separatist party in 2004.

"Will he admit that in 2004, and in 2000, he was prepared to make such a deal with the Bloc?" Duceppe told the House.

The Conservatives have lambasted Stéphane Dion's Liberals for entering into a proposed Liberal-NDP coalition government with the support of the Bloc if Harper's minority government were to fall, portraying the pact as undemocratic and a threat to national unity.

Day replied that the report was a "complete fabrication" and that he had never seen the letter, never endorsed it and would never sign such a deal.

"It would be against my very DNA to do a coalition deal with socialists, and it would absolutely go against my heart and the heart of Canadians to do a deal with separatists," Day told the House on Wednesday, in reference to the current proposed coalition.

In an interview with the Globe, Chipeur played down the importance of the offer, saying he never discussed the matter with Day or with other MPs, and was simply getting ready in the event of a minority government.

But in July 2000, Day indicated a willingness to form political ties with the Bloc if it meant ousting the federal Liberals from power. He said his party's position was "to be open to anybody who's interested in a truly conservative form of government.''

"I'm not big on labels," Day told reporters at the time when asked about a possible coalition to oust Chrétien's Liberals.

"If there are people who embrace the views of the Canadian Alliance and believe we need a federal government that is limited in size, that respects the provinces and that wants lower taxes, I'm not interested where they may have been in the past politically.''

With files from the Canadian Press