As Canadians appear to be headed to the polls early in May, perhaps now is the time to reflect on this Parliament, Canada’s 40^th Parliament, and determine what needs to be done to prevent a repeat in the 41^st Parliament.

Now is the time to ask ourselves:

Do we want a government that chose to prorogate Parliament rather than debate Canada’s treatment of Afghan detainees? 

Do we want a government that spends more in one day on the G20 than they are prepared to spend on lifting seniors out of poverty? 

Do we want a government that robs provincial governments, academics, business leaders, researchers, and economists of important and necessary research data by scrapping the long-term census?

Do we want a government that – through its actions – brought harm to Canada’s international reputation by failing to gain a seat on the UN Security Council?

Do we want a government that shows it contempt for Parliament and the democratic process by refusing to reveal the costs of its crime bills; that protects a minister who misled Parliament by “Not” telling the truth; a government that low-balled the cost of its new fighter planes by more than $13 billion and tried to hide the real cost from the opposition members and all Canadians?

Stephen Harper has been forced to accept that because of the faults and corruption within his government he lost the confidence of the Canadian people and Parliament,  and his latest budget did nothing to regain that confidence. As Globe and Mail columnist Brian Topp wrote on the NDP leader’s choice to add his party’s weight to bring down the government, “Layton is the right guy making the right decision.”

Can we afford another Stephen Harper government that cares more about giving more corporate tax cuts than getting unemployed Canadians back to work and ensuring that seniors can retire with dignity and economic security? Isn’t it time to elect a government that has the best interests of working Canadians as its priority?