It's time once again to assess how taxpayers, our political institutions and the country as a whole fared over the past 12 months.

January: Things started well with lower federal tax brackets kicking in on New Year's day. But by mid-month, the Stockwell Day - Lorne Goddard $800K lawsuit (over $700K in legal fees) captured our attention. By month's end, the Liberal Throne Speech signaled a shocking return to Trudeau-esque big government.

February: The CTF was first out of the gate to call for a Spring budget citing government by press conference and the ailing U.S. economy as just two of several reasons necessitating a budget. The GST home heating rebate fiasco surfaces as convicts, snowbirds and corpses all receive cheques.

March: Year-end spending binges (again) across the federal public service. The CTF holds its 3rd annual Teddy Waste awards: the best year yet. But a good year for the Teddies means a bad year for taxpayers. In late March, Fair Vote Canada, a non-partisan movement to change our antiquated first-past-the-post voting system is launched at a historic conference on Parliament Hill.

April: Tax time again. Canadians file returns by Internet and telephone in record numbers and refund cheques are issued in days rather than weeks. Former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow is appointed to head $15 million commission on the future of health care in Canada.

May: CTF releases MP pay recommendations including indexing of salaries, elimination of tax-free allowances and scaling back the lucrative pension plan. Finance Minister Paul Martin releases a vacuous economic statement: 59 pages and not one chart can be found detailing revenues in and expenditures out for 2001/2002.
As well, the CTF holds its 3rd annual Gas Tax Honesty Day blowing the whistle on gas tax gouging at the pumps. Lumley MP pay commission releases its report adopting several key CTF recommendations.

June: Government House Leader Don Boudria and the Prime Minister get their hands on the Lumley report and pervert its intent by retroactively hiking salaries back to January 1st and hiking base pension amounts by as much as 42% for MPs and over 80% for the Prime Minister.

July: Ottawa ponies up almost $3 billion in export financing (read: corporate welfare) assistance for Bombardier: the company's second such lottery win in 2001. Meanwhile Industry czar Brian Tobin peddles his national broadband scheme estimated to cost between $2 billion and $6 billion.

August: Federal civil servants stage a series of weekly rotating strikes looking for wage and non-monetary concessions in excess of 20% over three years. With the economy in recession, public sympathy for their position in non-existent. Strikes called off by month's end.

September: Two numbers, 9 - 11. The world changes with the terrorist tragedies in New York, Washington and outside of Pittsburgh. Almost 5,000 innocent civilians (from some 86 countries) die in the space of two hours. National politics for a few weeks is understandably irrelevant.

October: The CTF continues its call for a full budget and also releases a landmark paper on health care reform and testifies before the Kirby Senate Committee on health care and the House Finance Committee.

November: CTF pressure for a balanced budget and EI premium cuts continues along with opposition to the broadband boondoggle and airline bailouts.

December: After 653 days, Paul Martin tables a smoke and mirrors security budget. No spending cuts, no debt reduction, no tax relief but spending will jump 20% in three years. Is this dismal year over yet

Next week: The 2002 tax picture.