After 13 years under the thumb of Liberal governments, Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper vowed to clean up Ottawa when he became prime minister in 2006: No more scandals. No more fiscal mismanagement. No more secrecy. On and on went the promises.

Yet, five years later, Harper stands accused of the same style of political crimes he claimed to abhor — only now they’re packaged in a Conservative blue sweater: Enacting “dunderhead” economic policies during the worst recession in decades. Clamping down on the media. Muzzling government experts. Ignoring fact-based evidence and enacting ideologically driven policies.

Frankly, it’s hard to know where to start with the Harper government — every stone unturned seems to reveal more dirt and worms. Here are some of the more interesting gems.

ACCOUNTABILITY? NEVER HEARD OF IT.

“The idea is to replace the culture of entitlement that thrived under the previous government and give Canadians good, clean government.” — Prime Minister Stephen Harper, May 26, 2006

The only difference between the Harper-led government and the previous Jean Chretien/Paul Martin-led Liberals governments, says Duff Conacher, co-ordinator for Democracy Watch, is that the Conservatives “promised to be better.”

But they’ve failed, he says.

“The Conservatives claim they’ve lived up to their mandate from 2006 — it’s just a blatant lie,” says Conacher.

In the 2006 election campaign, the Conservatives issued their Blue Book, a collection of promises to clean up Ottawa, replacing “old-style politics” and “a culture of entitlement and corruption” with a “culture of accountability.”

However, once in power, the Conservatives watered down their own Federal Accountability Act, passing only 29 of those measures to date and further weakening ethics rules for the prime minister, cabinet ministers, staff and senior government officials.

Basically, Harper’s government has fared no better than the Liberals, says Conacher. Both repeatedly issued “a real, solid, comprehensive pledge to clean up government and stop the things that turn voters off — and neither of them did it,” he says.

Some of the more egregious broken promises:

Ensuring qualified candidates are chosen for government agencies and commissions through an independent commission.

Preventing party leaders from appointing candidates without the consent of local electoral district associations.

Creating a rule requiring the PM, cabinet ministers and senior officials to be honest.

“Ethics rules now do not apply to 99 per cent of what cabinet ministers do,” says Conacher. “Essentially you have an ongoing situation where dishonesty, secrecy, unethical activities, unrepresentative and wasteful actions and decisions are still legal.”

‘DUNDERHEAD’ ECONOMICS

“If you don’t want a… deficit and recession, the only way to ensure that is the case is to vote for the Conservative Party.” — Prime Minister Stephen Harper, October 12, 2008

In October 2008, Harper peered into his crystal ball and predicted Canada would be immune to the global recession and his government would not run a deficit.

During the same month he was denying there would be a recession, Harper was preparing for one. The Conservative government was engineering a $200-billion bailout for Bay Street known as the Extraordinary Financing Framework. As a percentage of the GDP it was bigger than the Wall Street bailout in the U.S.

This $200-billion EFF allowed the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation, for instance, to buy up $69 billion worth of risky mortgages the banks didn’t want.

Why wouldn’t the banks want those mortgages? Well, back in 2006 Harper introduced zero-down, 40-year term mortgages geared towards getting low-income earners and immigrants with shaky financial credentials into the housing market.

Then the recession — the one that wasn’t supposed to happen — hit. By October 2009, 400,000 jobs disappeared.

Now this isn’t a problem if well-paying jobs are created and interest rates stay low. But interest rates have nowhere to go but up, and taxpayers will be on the hook if those mortgages default.

“The banks, meanwhile, are laughing all the way to the bank because they’ve held on to their most secure mortgages,” says Armine Yalnizyan, a senior economist for the Centre of Canadian Policy Alternatives. “It’s dunderhead economics courtesy of Stephen Harper.”

Then there are Harper’s boutique tax credits, such as the children’s fitness tax credit and income splitting for families. Attractive to voters, but generally no help for Canadians who need it the most.

Take income-splitting for families, which the Conservatives are peddling this election. First, it only comes into effect once the deficit is slain — four years from now, if we’re lucky. Second, single-parent families (20 per cent of all Canadian families) get nothing because they have no incomes to split.

The cumulative effect of these “economic blunders” is a “frightening concentration of income, wealth and power in this country,” says Yalnizyan. “And all this guy can do is make it worse.”

Oh, and that 2008 promise to not run a deficit. Well, it’s only $56 billion.

SORRY, NO MORE QUESTIONS

“They don’t get to ask their questions, I don’t think anyone outside of Ottawa cares.” — Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007, responding to questions about his staff hand-picking reporters during news conferences.

Soon after taking office, Harper, never a fan of the media, picks a fight with the Ottawa press gallery.

Under Harper’s rule, reporters are now required to put their name on a list, then, maybe, their questions will be answered. Conservative cabinet ministers, backbenchers and even government experts are muzzled from speaking to the media.

Mary Agnes Welch, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), describes the relationship as a “visceral mistrust from the top.”

“It used to be that you could talk to your local climate change scientist or health care (department) person,” she says. “Now, every word they say has to be vetted by the Prime Minister’s Office. So you never really get to talk to somebody, all you get are canned email responses.”

The problem extends beyond just a “bunch of whiny journalists” bitching that their job has gotten more difficult to do and they can’t talk to sources, says Welch.

“When we’re at our best, journalists are proxies for the public,” she says. “When we can’t get answers to simple questions… we can’t do a good job of holding the government to account or explaining how government is really working.”

Furthering that challenge to hold government accountable is a 2008 decision to axe the Co-ordination of Access to Information Request System (CAIRS), an electronic registry of almost every access to information request filed at the federal level.

In 2007, the Toronto Star uncovered a secret plan to create a $2-million, government-run media centre code-named “Shoe Store Project.” It was ultimately shelved, but Harper has found other ways to control the flow of information.

Journalists are excluded from witnessing government events, such as ministers chomping down seal meat, and then handed government-produced photos and video to run.

CAJ issued a letter calling on journalists and media outlets of any credibility to not use this type of propaganda.

“This is the party that said, ‘We’re going to be completely open and no more Liberal scandals and backroom deals,’” says Welch. “When in fact, I don’t think there has been any government in modern Canadian history that has such a vice-grip on the flow of information.”

D-DAY FOR CANADA’S VETERANS

“All too often we hear stories of veterans who are ignored or disrespected by government. What a shameful way to treat men and women who risked their lives to defend Canada. This shame will end with the election of a new government.”— Stephen Harper, as Opposition Leader in December 2005

The Conservatives have spent years moulding their image as valiant protectors of the Canadian military and its troops.

Under PM Harper this image was amplified and milked to full effect, especially in his first term.

He announced Veterans Week, noting, “Because of their sacrifices we are privileged to live in one of the most prosperous, civilized and safest countries in the world.”

He made a surprise visit to troops serving in Afghanistan. He talked tough about Canadians not cutting and running. He did photo-ops decked out in military gear.

Those photos in particular nauseate retired colonel Patrick Stogran: “Makes me puke,” says the outspoken former Veterans Affairs ombudsman.

In 2007, the Conservative government picked Stogran, the first commander of Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, to be the voice of Canada’s military men and women.

It was, ultimately, an embarrassing choice for a government that seemingly demands obedience within its own ranks.

Almost immediately, Stogran began blasting the government and bureaucrats for the treatment of veterans who “come under the scrutiny of hell” when seeking benefits.

He tore into the Veterans Bill of Rights (“It’s all bullshit,” he says now), and the Veterans Charter, which replaced monthly disability payments with a maximum, one-time payment of $276,089.

At first he blamed the bureaucracy for the “systemic disadvantaging of veterans.” When his concerns fell on deaf ears, Stogran set his sights on the Harper government for “knowingly and deliberately” cheating veterans.

“This government has knowingly and willingly sent people into harm’s way to have them dismembered, butchered, killed and psychologically injured,” says Stogran.

Three years later, Stogran’s contract was not renewed, causing a furor amongst veterans who protested the decision. It was later revealed the government had accessed the outspoken colonel’s personal medical files more than 400 times.

By September 2010, the government was in full damage control mode, announcing another $2 billion for injured veterans, spread out over 20 years.

Stogran is now advising the upstart Progressive Canadian Party on veterans’ issues.

CLIMATE CHANGE… MEH

“It focuses on carbon dioxide, which is essential to life, rather than upon pollutants.” — Stephen Harper, referring to the Kyoto Accord in a 2002 fundraising letter to Canadian Alliance members

If it wasn’t apparent already, it became crystal clear in November 2010 that the Harper government simply didn’t give a shit about taking action on climate change.

That’s when the Conservative-controlled Senate pulled one of the most blatantly undemocratic, partisan manoeuvres in recent memory.

After stacking the Senate with Conservative loyalists (that in itself an action Harper despised as Opposition Leader and promised to vanquish), Conservative Senators killed Bill C311, also known as the Climate Accountability Act, without debate.

Although Conservative MPs in the House of Commons opposed the bill, the majority of elected officials voted to pass it. Essentially, the bill was aimed at getting the government to create a plan, and set targets and measures to achieve that plan.

“It laid bare the hypocrisy of what the prime minister had been saying about the accountability of the Senate,” says Graham Saul, executive director for Climate Action Network.

But really, it was just another chapter in the Harper government’s attitude on the issue. It failed to renew funding for the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science. It continues, against the advice of both the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Energy Agency, to provide subsidies to oil companies. It requires senior federal scientists to get approval from the government before giving media interviews.

“What’s been consistent about the prime minister’s approach to climate change over the past five years is that he has done as little as possible,” says Saul.