Last election, the CPC platform was rolled out on a Saturday and kept out of sight. This time around, Harper is shouting it from the hilltops.

Here are the Top 5 CPC priorities:

1. Ban gay marriage
2. Bring in abortion legislation
3. Send our troops to…

Sorry, my bad…that was the e-mail from the Liberal war room. Here’s what Harper announced today:

1. Cleaning up government by passing the Federal Accountability Act
2. Cutting the GST
3. Cracking down on crime
4. Increasing financial assistance for parents
5. Working with the provinces to establish a wait-times guarantee for patients

For what it’s worth, I really like the Federal Accountability Act. I’m not big on the GST cut or the childcare cheques. As for numbers three and five, I guess Harper is just trying to “out Martin” Martin when it comes to vague pie in the sky promises with no real substance.

But it’s really irrelevant as to whether or not people like these policies (although people liking them would obviously help). The important thing is that Harper is laying his cards on the table and it’s going to be almost impossible to launch the “hidden agenda” attack this time around. By picking priorities he looks decisive next to Dithers, and it tells people that this is what he’ll be focusing on if elected, rather than the scary so-con agenda people are afraid of.