Right on script, Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper came out yesterday with his proverbial guns blasting during his first question period appearance asking the Prime Minister to immediately end all government sponsorship and advertising contracts. There was no mushy middle here in asking the feds to manage this program better; just shut it down outright. Bravo Mr. Harper.

He rightly pointed out that this whole Public Works advertising scandal is about waste and mismanagement. As yours truly has argued previously in this space, hanging government of Canada logos at hunting shows, Formula One races and fishing derbies is an abhorrent waste of tax dollars.

Although Mr. Harper did not use the c-word, corruption, even though a recent Compas research poll found 69% of Canadians believe the federal government is corrupt. This same poll also found that 68% of Canadians believe their respective provincial governments are corrupt while the folks down at City Hall fare just a little better at 53%.

To be fair to elected officials and senior bureaucrats, corruption denotes criminal intent and deliberate absconding with tax dollars. Which is probably why Mr. Harper - who is if nothing else, precise in his use of the English language - shied away from this message track that the Alliance has been on for over a month now. And to his credit, it is a better strategy.

Alleging corruption where none will likely be found could backfire in the long run. By referring to this whole GroupAction mess (which is surely just the tip of the iceberg) as "waste and mismanagement" avoids the high threshold of proving criminal intent and is a truer characterization of Ottawa's sponsorship file and activities. From a messaging standpoint, it is also more emotive and effective.

Sadly, this latest scandal when added to the billion-dollar boondoggle and Shawinigate (just to name a few) only serves to deepen our cynicism towards public institutions. Herein lies the national disenchantment with politics. The ideals of democracy and the foundation intent of our institutions are "corrupted" when public servants (elected folk and bureaucrats) put individual and/or partisan gain ahead of the public interest.

And for those cynics who say it has always been this way and it always will, well, frankly, they can slither back under their rocks of defeatist mediocrity. They do nothing to advance democratic debate or better build our institutions. Taxpayers deserve better, period.

What we need is a change in Canada's political culture. And if Mr. Harper - or any other opposition leader for that matter - is interested in calling 24 Sussex Drive home, he or she would be wise to campaign with this theme.

With disquieting frequency, independent officers of Parliament are now treated as headaches to be tolerated instead of voices to be heard and heeded. Without fail, reports from the Auditor General exposing mismanagement and waste are treated with scorn or flatly denied by Ministers of the Crown. Similarly, recommendations from the Information Commissioner or Privacy Commissioner are viewed as a threat to the exercise of power instead of being embraced as positive steps in the march towards open and better government.

A government truly interested in accountability would take these reports seriously and publicly benchmark its progress by tracking improvements it makes in response to issues raised by Parliament's independent "servants."

Of course defenders of our current dysfunctional system usually retort back and say, "Robinson, you're just a perpetual critic." Yes my job is one of professional criticism and advocacy; here's a news flash for you, it's a right and responsibility that comes with citizenship. For a democracy ceases to be one the moment it cannot find fault with itself.

While a change in leadership or government at any level can offer a short-term reprieve from the "corruption" of our institutions, it is not a long-term panacea. More permanent solutions include voting reform, constitutional entrenchment of tax and expenditure limits and loosening the reins of party discipline, among other ideas, to empower MPs, MLAs and councillors at the local level.

When it comes to voting, we continue to use the antiquated first-past-the-post voting system where a simple plurality of votes gets you into office. This routinely results in 40% plurality votes winning 60% or more of the seats in legislatures and exercising 100% power unchecked for four and five years, aka the elected dictatorship. Canada is one of only four industrialized nations on the face of the planet with a population of over 8 million to still employ this obsolete system.

Voters have very little hope of seeing the ‘X' they mark on the ballot on Election Day adequately reflected in their legislatures. Moving to a more proportional system - and there are countless varieties - would rectify this situation and increase voter turnout.

Next up, legislative and constitutional entrenchment of spending limits. Thirty plus years of runaway government spending and massive deficits led to our national (federal and provincial) debt burden that constitutes a shameless and immoral fiscal crime of intergenerational tax evasion passed onto our kids.

A constitution should place the primacy of individuals and the people above the institutions of government and as such, is the appropriate vehicle to use to restrict the activities of government.

Finally, taxpayers deserve to see politicians and parties that propose real legislative reforms to empower legislators to amend laws, vote their conscience and act as real advocates for their constituents. Free votes, powerful House committees and oversight of judicial appointments have been talked about for far too long: it's time for action on this front.

Consider these ideas as part of a taxpayer's manifesto for better government. We need to govern ourselves better for if we do not, noted author Robert Wright's conclusion is a chilling prophecy for Canada. In Non-Zero: The Logic of Human Destiny, Wright states: "Badly governed societies are littered with losses, and history is littered with the remains of badly governed societies."

So to Mr. Harper and others, steal these ideas, please!