The House of Commons is back in session this week, after the usual Easter adjournment. Two things are immediately obvious.
First, the Conservative government has nothing new on its agenda. No new ideas. No new policy initiatives. Mr. Harper's original agenda from 2006 – as thin and superficial as it was – was exhausted a long time ago. He's been running on empty for nearly a year now.
Secondly, economic storm clouds are gathering on Canada's horizons – especially in the manufacturing sector, forestry and livestock – and the Harper government has squandered its capacity to respond in any effective way.
While high world prices for commodities like oil and wheat are (for the time being) masking the impact of a deepening recession in the United States, the consequences are bound to spill over sometime later this year. It will then become evident how badly the Conservatives have squandered Canada's fiscal security.
For reasons like these, Mr. Harper is lusting for a snap election.
He has nothing new to propose, so he wants to get a federal campaign behind him before the national economy really begins to slump.
Canada's impending trouble has been forecasted by every reliable private sector economist in the country.
Most recently, the TD Bank predicted a sharp slowdown in overall Canadian growth and warned that a federal deficit is once again a real risk – because the Conservatives have been grossly over-spending, while eroding the tax-base at the same time.
This is just shockingly bad management!
Just over two years ago, Canada had the strongest economy and the best fiscal situation in the western world. There was nearly $100 billion of financial flexibility to work with. Now under Mr. Harper, it's all gone.
That's the type of election issue that could get Canadians fired up!
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