Well, the election is over and not a moment too soon. Regular readers of this column may think that those who hold government's collective feet to the fire on spending and tax issues are reflexively anti-government or anti-politician, but that would be the exact opposite of this columnist's views. In a democracy, not only is a voting a right and responsibility - so too is the action of pressing for accountable government, and that must continue year in and year out. To do otherwise is to show the greatest contempt for democracy.

That being said, the past federal election campaign was a textbook case on why such contests are rarely about substantial policy debates and, unfortunately, and more often about 10-second soundbites, inch-deep party platforms, and cheap shots. Citizens should be thankful it's all over. Perhaps now we can get back to real issues. Here is a partial list:

Reform of the health care system: All the parties deserve an "F" for their dishonesty on this issue. From Stockwell Day's ridiculous "No Two-Tier Health Care" sign to the NDP's reflexive anti-private health care rants, Canadians were subjected to silly fear mongering on the issue. The fact is Canada doesn't have a single-tier health care system. It has a multi-tier system and always will. Worker's Compensation Board patients get to the front of the medical queue as do sports stars and politicians. Rich Canadians can fly south for treatment and an increasing number of top executives demand that their compensation packages include medical treatment in the United States if they fall ill. An intelligent debate on this topic will require some up-front honesty instead of knee-jerk slurs against one's patriotism for suggesting health care be looked at rationally instead of emotionally.

Citizen Initiated Referendums: Much uninformed commentary was directed at the idea of citizens possessing the power to initiate referendums. The Alliance was subjected to withering commentary from some for floating the idea of a three-percent threshold for starting a referendum (not passing a measure, just starting an initiative.) A book could be written on why referendums are a good idea, especially in a country like Canada where so much power is concentrated in the prime minister's office, but it would help if critics of referendums would get out a bit more. In the United States, petition thresholds range from 2.55 percent in liberal Massachusetts to 10.8 percent in conservative Wyoming.

In Switzerland, 100,000 signatures (or 6.8 percent of the population) can trigger a referendum on a constitutional amendment or a new law. 50,000 signatures (or 3.4 percent of the population) can start a referendum that, if passed, can veto a law. Just this past weekend, the Swiss recently voted to keep military spending high. Past referendums included issues such as restricting immigration (rejected), abolishing the army (rejected), joining the European Union (declined) as well as many other issues. No one thinks the Swiss are nuts for debating and voting on such issues. Instead, nations hold peace conferences in Geneva.

Other issues that deserved a good debate included tax cuts. The Fraser Institute estimated that Paul Martin's recent mini-budget pushed back the average Tax Freedom Day for most Canadians by - hold your breath - three days. And that includes all the projected tax cuts all the way to the year 2004. His budget was a down payment on the issue of tax cuts, not the final sign-off on the issue.

If you didn't hear about these issues, don't be surprised. There was also a gag law restricting everyone but political parties from advertising (much) during an election. The result was the most pathetic debate on issues in recent memory.