The spin begins

The governing Conservatives already have unleashed yet another attack ad, accusing an unholy coalition between the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois of foisting an unnecessary election upon Canadians that will imperil our fragile economic recovery.
The opposition parties, on the other hand, see a corrupt and scandal-plagued government that thumbs its nose at democracy and our political institutions in the most cavalier manner.
And so the spin begins.
The ink on Finance minister Jim Flaherty’s latest budget is barely dry but the opening salvos have been launched in what’s sure to be a nasty election campaign, leaving voters to decide whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper deserves a third crack at the helm or if that job should go back to the Liberals—now led by Michael Ignatieff—after five years of wandering in the electoral desert.
It remains to be seen if the government will fall over its budget or contempt of Parliament charges, among other ethical transgressions. Or perhaps Prime Minister Harper will take matters into his own hands and pull the plug—stealing the opposition’s thunder by going out on his terms, not theirs. However it goes down, the fundamental question facing voters is simply this: who to believe as we prepare go to the polls for the fourth time in seven years?
The Tories, for instance, claim to be the best stewards of the economy. Yet just two-and-a-half years ago, vying for re-election in late 2008, they refused to acknowledge the impending recession, then had to rack up the largest deficit in Canadian history in hopes of spending our way out of it. Do we now believe their budget projections?
They also were the party that first came to power in 2006 on promises of cleaning up Ottawa; of better accountability and transparency in government. Yet charges of election spending fraud, influence peddling, and contempt of Parliament, not to mention the decision to prorogue Parliament not once, but twice in order to stay in power, suggest they are no better than any previous government—and perhaps much worse.
We have the Tories lambasting an unnecessary election, yet here was a prime minister who asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament in 2008 because it was “dysfunctional”—breaking his own fixed election law in the process.
The Liberals and NDP, of course, have been equally guilty of overblown partisanship rhetoric and gamesmanship over the past few years. Are their promises and accusations any more believable now? Is this election about having a better plan for Canadians—or because the timing is best to score political gains?
Voter trust has been lost, which is the real issue going into this campaign. And it will take much more than party spins to regain it.