A while back I wrote that it looked as though Ontario's governing Tories had made the successful transition from the Common Sense Revolution to become the Queen's Park institution. Sadly, more evidence has surfaced in recent weeks to further support and solidify this conclusion.

To start, the Premier's Office seems oblivious to the fact the Minister Eves may not table a budget until late-April or mid-May meaning that the government will be operating on special warrants during the first four to six weeks of the new fiscal year which begins on April 1st.

For a party that preaches respect for taxpayers and prides itself on doing government in a business-like manner, this is unacceptable. Every other province except for Nova Scotia has tabled a budget. Spending with no "real" legislative authority for weeks into new the fiscal year is a by-product of lethargy.

Other troubling signs of contentment are found when one examines the lack of action on privatization or debt reduction. The Tories have yet to unveil an agenda for privatization after five years in office. Clearly, this speaks to the lack of any political will to truly reduce the size of government and focus precious taxpayer dollars on the provision of real public goods.

On the debt front, an abundance of pre-budget submissions, including ours, vehemently stressed the need for a greater focus and aggressive commitment (read: legislated debt repayments) to reduce Ontario's $122 billion debt.

In this age of strategic media leaks and forward messaging, the silence from the government on this issue speaks volumes to taxpayers. And the message, or lack thereof, is disconcerting.

While the CTF's grievances on special warrants, privatization and debt have been aired before, even the most ardent government supporters have to question the conservative credentials of Harris and crew given Ontario's recent positions on health care funding and gas taxes.

The Health Services Restructuring Commission now states that it may have done things backwards. Instead of tackling the bricks and mortar of hospitals, the Commission now says that it should have started with primary care reform for doctors and upgrading system-wide information technology (IT) capacity before merging/closing over 30 hospitals.

So the government is now in a bind. Merged hospitals are running massive deficits. Negotiations with the OMA (the doctors) are in full gear and primary care reform doesn't seem to be on the table. Worse still, after spending gobs of cash on Y2K medical equipment issues, IT upgrades that would allow hospitals to share information and legislators to measure outcomes from the system are still years away.

It doesn't look like the province has a conservative or just a simple clear and compelling vision for health care. In fact, the only apparent solution is more money. Health Minister Witmer is now the poster-child for joint provincial lobbying for more tax dollars, some $4 billion annually from Ottawa. Instead of playing a leadership role in fostering national consensus and forwarding an agenda for change, Ontario's Conservative government is now playing the time-honoured Liberal game of cheque-book federalism.

Finally, Mike Harris' comments on gas prices, and specifically gas taxes, are truly perplexing. Not less than 24 hours after receiving an offer from Paul Martin to engage the provinces in a dialogue to lower gas taxes, the Premier summarily dismissed the idea and opted instead for a tirade on oil company profits.

Silly me, I thought Ontario's Tories were tax cutters, free marketers, small government advocates and proponents of long-term health care solutions. Was I mistaken