It’s easy to criticize throne speeches, especially throne speeches by governments that have fallen on tough times. Truth be told, I actually think there was a lot to like in yesterday’s government reboot. The hint of a free trade deal with the EU is good news. Issues like cyberbullying and food safety need to be dealt with. And while “consumer-rights” initiatives won’t revolutionize Canada, they will be popular. Staunch conservatives might be a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of NDP-style regulations on big business, but I suspect they’ll be forgiven if it leads to lower roaming fees. As much as people say they want their governments to be bold nation builders, in the end voters usually respond to things that will make their day-to-day lives easier.

So I’m not going to casually slam what was a perfectly fine throne speech. However (and you knew there was a “however” coming), the most asinine line – even more so than the promise to find the bones of the Franklin Expedition – is Stephen Harper’s pledge to introduce a balanced budget law.

This isn’t new. Most provinces have put forward balanced budget laws with the best of intentions, only to abandon them as soon as the going got tough. I blogged about this back in 2009 when Gordon Campbell was repealing his own balanced budget law. At the time, we were told that while lesser provinces might succumb to the pressures of the deficit, man could no more repeal Ralph Klein’s Financial Responsibility Act than he could repeal the laws of gravity:

Many provinces have some form of balanced-budget law, and they all come with some form of escape clause. Only Alberta’s Balanced Budget and Debt Reduction Law, appears iron clad against deficits, said Bader.

Alberta now has one of Canada’s largest deficits and, to the best of my knowledge, no one from Ed Stelmach’s Cabinet finds themselves in the Drumheller Penitentiary.

So we know that balanced budget laws have been about as successful at producing balanced budgets and Franklin was at finding the northwest passage.

But what makes this promise especially ridiculous is the man making it. At least when Ralph Klein talked tough on deficits, he had the track record to back it up – Harper’s record is one of 6 consecutive deficits and counting. To recap, Harper inherited a $13.2 billion dollar surplus, only to squander it within two years. Even the most ultra-partisans in the land wouldn’t blame Harper for the collapse of the worldwide economy, but the parliamentary budget officer has reported that Harper’s deficit was structural – that is to say, not just a product of the downturn. Remember, this is the biggest spending government in Canada’s history – even after accounting for inflation and population growth.

Of course, we are told there will be exceptions in this law for national emergencies, economic downturns, prime numbered years, and finance ministers who wear sandals to deliver their budget speech. It’s not so much a law, as a slogan. If Harper was serious about slaying the deficit, he would increase revenue or cut spending – yet there’s virtually nothing in this throne speech to that effect, save for a promise to “review” civil servant sick days and streamline government e-mail systems.

It’s obvious enough this law is intended to build the myth of “Stephen Harper deficit slayer”, and to cast doubts on how Trudeau and Mulcair would manage the books. But by this point, Harper’s record should speak far louder than any slogan. This is Zellers telling everyone “the lowest price is the law”, rather than actually offering low prices to consumers – and you’re as likely to see a Zellers these days as you are a member of the Franklin expedition.