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The government we deserve

Unless the Liberals intend to hammer the point regularly in the coming weeks of the federal election campaign, not many people are going to remember that the “Harper government” — once known as the “government of Canada” — fell after being found in contempt of Parliament
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Unless the Liberals intend to hammer the point regularly in the coming weeks of the federal election campaign, not many people are going to remember that the “Harper government” — once known as the “government of Canada” — fell after being found in contempt of Parliament. If left to our own devices, most voters are going to assume the minority Tories lost a non-confidence vote on the budget.

Such is how the sediment layers of history are laid down.

The contempt finding is indeed historic. No sitting government in the history of the British Commonwealth has ever been cited for contempt of Parliament, never mind one that got itself elected by claiming the high road of openness and accountability.

But unless the Liberals hammer the point, it’s the shopping list of discount bargains in the budget-that-never-was that people will remember most.

Taxpayers with children won’t be getting $75 back in tax refunds for every child they placed in an arts program — on a par with the rebate for sports programs that analysts say goes largely unclaimed.

Nor will people taking care of elderly parents be able to claim a $2,000 Caregiver Tax Credit on their tax forms next year — unless they vote Tory, or Liberal or NDP in this election.

Volunteer firefighters won’t get $450 back on their taxes, provided they put in 200 hours a year of free service.

A Canadian Brain Research Fund worth $100 million is also in limbo now, which will delay caregiver supports for people with Alzheimer’s or severe brain injuries, plus income supports and public education into awareness and prevention.

All of these measures and more can be resurrected in the first budget by whoever wins the election, and be back on track before our newly-minted MPs take their much-needed summer break.

But if you poll your friends, you’ll probably find that contempt of Parliament — refusing to tell MPs the cost of the government’s campaign to build more prisons (before Parliament was to vote on a bill to approve them) — seems one of the more forgettable aspects of the Harper government.

That a minister interfered with decisions that are supposed to be made by a Parliamentary committee by handwriting “not” on a contract seems a trifle compared with open contempt of Parliament.

That election funding rules written by the Tories to prevent the Liberals from going to their most trusted well of money were broken by Tories seems like just details. That two government insiders are under investigation by the RCMP for selling their access to power? Who was harmed?

Nobody, really, except those Canadians who believe Parliament should have the last say in all things, and not the leader of the party that happens to have elected the most MPs. There’s a difference, and people around the world are being killed because they want to have a democracy like ours, where their governors are directly answerable to them.

The prime minister needs to be reminded that he is a servant of Parliament. In Canada, power flows from Parliament to the prime minister’s office, not the other way round.

This is our fourth federal election in seven years. But it’s not something you should be tired of going through. Millions would love to trade places with you and get to vote four times in seven years.

But if this election becomes about a $75 tax deduction for piano lessons, the Liberals will deserve their defeat. And you will deserve the government you get.

Greg Neiman is an Advocate editor.