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After the past week in Ottawa signs are beginning to appear that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may be losing his tight grip on his caucus.

Since the winter election campaign, Canada's "new government," as they like to call themselves, has been primarily a one-man show.

The previous break week was evidence of that.

There was Harper in Vancouver at an outdoor photo-op making an announcement about this week's Clean Air Act, four high-ranking cabinet ministers by his side, not saying a word through the PM's speech and the question and answer period that followed.

Most cabinet ministers are said to be still on a short leash and appear nervous when talking to the media -- fearful that one Vellacott-like slip up could result in the unravelling of the party's hopes for a majority.

Harper supporters say the PM's domination of the government is just to ensure the government stays on message. Critics accuse him of being a control freak.

Nonetheless, it seemed most of the Conservative caucus had been willing to go along with Harper's strategy because it has the intended goal of delivering the Conservatives their first majority government in a generation.

But this week, the first cracks in that strategy were evident.

On Tuesday, a poll for CTV News was released that showed the Liberals and the Tories were tied in the polls with 32 per cent nationally.

Although polls change and it is just one poll, it is the first poll to show the Tories not in the lead since the income trust scandal rocked the Liberals during the election campaign.

Even more astonishing is that despite controlling the agenda, delivering the promised one-per-cent GST cut and sending out a monthly cheques to family with children under six, Harper and the Tories cannot seem to pull ahead of a party that still has not selected a leader.

More troubling is that Harper's plan to build his majority centred around increased Tory support in Quebec.

The same poll showed Tory support in Quebec has plummeted to 16 per cent from 30 per cent in the spring.

If a Tory drop in support continues, more and more MPs may be less concerned about Harper winning a majority and more concerned about saving their own seats.