An election no one wants?

We have been told that this is an election that no one wants.

That we must give Stephen Harper a majority. It is the only way to ensure that we won't have a coalition government, says Mr. Harper. Yet, he has governed in a "coalition" for the past five years. Indeed, his first budget passed because he had the support of and a working relationship with the Bloc Quebecois. Who knew, that according to local letter writers, Mr. Harper was a separatist trying to destroy Canada?

And we have been told that this is an election that no one wants.

We have been told that the election was called because of the budget. Yet the record shows this is not the case.

Indeed, the budget was never voted on so despite warnings from the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois that they were not supporting it, we don't know what they would have actually done. In the past, they have flip-flopped and supported the government in the end. Just look at the votes for the past three budgets.

No. This election was called because the ruling Conservative party was told that they had to play nice with everyone else. They can not hold Parliament in contempt. They must engage in proper Parliamentary procedure and provide the information that the House and the people of Canada need to know.

Still, we are told that this is an election that no one wants.

We are told that we need to give corporations more tax cuts. That it is necessary for job growth. Yet the evidence is in and as anyone that has even a modicum of mathematical ability will realize, corporate Canada has not lived up to their end of the bargain.

Job growth in corporate Canada in the past decade was 4.71 per cent while in the remainder of the economy it was 5.72 per cent. This despite a decrease in the effective corporate tax rate from 34.1 per cent in 2000 to 19.1 per cent in 2009 and corporate profits that increased by 52 per cent over the same time span. It would have been much smarter to have given a tax break to small businesses as that is where job growth has occurred.

The refrain, though, is that this is an election that no one wants.

Who says?

It is time that Canadians stand up and take ownership of the country. I am a proud Canadian. I want to live in a country that is ruled by our democratically elected government - not the almighty dollar and corporate tax breaks.

It is over corporate tax breaks where I fundamentally disagree with my fellow opinion columnist Bruce Strachan. Last week, Mr. Strachan advocated getting rid of corporate taxes entirely based on the need to level the playing field with the United States.

I have a great deal of sympathy for that argument as the playing field is far from level in so many ways. Just look at the price of consumer goods between the two countries. We are getting ripped off.

But remember the last time that we had a Conservative majority in Parliament. They put the Free Trade Agreement in place, essentially giving away our sovereignty over oil and gas. They also brought in the GST. Both were supposed to "level the playing field between Canada and the U.S." Neither did anything of the sort.

Further, it is hard to feel sorry for corporate Canada when profits are at record highs. When banks are turning over multi-billion dollar profits in a single quarter or when oil companies are being subsidized. And it is not like they do not get anything for their tax burden.

They get a health care system that looks after their workers and releases them from the need to pay for health benefits. They get trained workers without having to pay for their education. They get roads that they don't have to pay tolls to use. Corporations get value for the money they contribute although I am sure that they don't see it that way.

In any case, that is just one aspect of the Canada that I would like to live in. As a country, we used to be a world leader on the environment. We were respected for our stand on issues such as climate change. The original draft of the accord on ozone depleting substances was written in Montreal.

We have lost that leadership role over the past five years with a government that is increasingly seen as hostile to the environment in which we live.

So, who wants this election? Anyone who thinks the present course that this country is on is the wrong one. Anyone that doesn't want a government that works in cooperation with separatists or is hell bent on rewarding corporate Canada regardless or thinks that environmental issues are imperative.

I would hope that is the majority of Canadians. Indeed, it will be.