Sadly, the current soap opera underway has revealed politicians — from both sides of the House of Commons’ aisle — more intent on playing petty politics than looking out for the welfare of the constituents who elected them.

Even worse, the actions of our federal officials in their battle for power will only deepen the current economic crisis for Canadians as any sense of government stability has all but vanished. Finger pointing, a national sport in Ottawa, has reached an all-time low but it is clear there is plenty of blame to go around.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, fresh off an election in which he gained a strengthened minority government, vowed to work more closely with Opposition parties for the betterment of all Canadians. He lied.

In his first statement on the economy since the election, Harper introduced a plan devoid of any solid economic stimulus but did include a cut to taxpayer subsidies for political parties — a move clearly designed to gut the Liberals and NDP. It was unnecessary and certainly wasn’t an issue of urgent concern to Canadians.

That horrendous political miscalculation provided the impetus for the Liberals and NDP to consider forming a coalition under the pretext of having no confidence in the Tories and their plans for the economy.

Canadians, though, didn’t vote for a coalition in October. Voters soundly rejected Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, and his own party was in the process of choosing his successor — a competition already fraught with nasty in-fighting. The NDP drew less than half the popular vote of the Tories and won 106 fewer seats. To top it off, it’s only with the support of a party intent on destroying the Confederation of Canada that the Liberals and NDP can wrest power from the Tories. Canadians shouldn’t support this three-headed monster.

All MPs should work toward bringing forth a sound infrastructure- driven economic stimulus plan that, in co-operation with the provinces, gets people working, protects seniors, aids the manufacturing sector and boosts consumer confidence. If that requires some politicians losing face and the formation of an all-party economic strategy committee, so be it. Canadians deserve much better government than they have been getting.