The first number -- 67% -- totals the growth in the Canadian economy in the 1990s. Between 1993 and 2003, Canada's total gross domestic product -- the value of all Canadian-made goods and Canadian-provided services -- rose by two-thirds.

Where did that extra production go? That's the question answered by the second number, 45%. The lion's share of Canadian economic growth in the 1990s was pocketed by government, especially the federal government. Between 1993 and 2003, federal revenues rose by 45%, or almost $60-billion.

That too is no kind of record. Government revenues rose much, much faster than those in the late 1960s. But when the economy is growing very fast, governments can raise more and more revenue with steady or even declining tax rates.

The rising revenues of the 1990s, however, were achieved not by lightly taxing a booming economy but by heavily taxing a struggling economy.

The third number in my series -- the number 31 -- suggests just how heavily Martin's tax program weighed on individual Canadians. Between 1993 and 2003, disposable after-tax income rose by only 31% per person in Canada.

Sadly, for most Canadians, that 31% increase felt even smaller than it looks. Remember: Over those same years, the value of the Canadian dollar collapsed. So Canadians may have earned more and more -- but they could afford to buy less and less.

Back in 1989, when the Canadian dollar still traded near its historic norm, the average Canadian took home about 90% as much as the average American. A decade later, he or she took home only slightly better than 75% as much as the average American.

In short: Canada prospered in the 1990s. Individual Canadians did not. And because Martin attacked investment as well as consumption, Canada's poor economic performance threatened to continue far into the future.

Paul Martin claims that he saved the Canadian government's finances. That claim is largely justified. He did eliminate the federal budget deficit. He even accumulated huge budget surpluses -- surpluses that allowed his Cabinet colleagues to start spending again. But he saved the government's budget by savaging the family budget. He protected the government's future solvency by compromising every RRSP-holder's future security.

Canadians did not like paying taxes. But they understood that the federal deficit had to be brought under control and that medicare cost money. Finance Minister Paul Martin promised a "balanced approach" to Canada's budget problems. That certainly sounded reasonable -- more reasonable than anything they were hearing from the Liberals' divided and fractious opponents. So they grumbled -- but they paid.

They paid once in taxes. They paid a second time in reduced government services.

They paid a third time when the government accepted the depreciation of the purchasing power even of the dollars they were allowed to keep. And they paid a fourth time in the form of slower growth in the value of their RRSPs.

Canadians paid in good faith. They paid assuming that they were doing a public-spirited thing. They paid to lift the burden of debt from their children and grandchildren. They paid believing that their federal government would use their money wisely and responsibly. Even if they did not quite trust Jean Chretien to steward their money, they trusted capable, honest Paul Martin.

And when the sponsorship scandal erupted, they realized they had been played for fools.

That winter vacation you didn't take? Some Liberal advertising executive in Montreal took it. That new car you couldn't afford to buy? You did buy it -- only somebody else is driving it. Those RRSP contributions you couldn't make? They're slushing around in the Prime Minister's national unity emergency fund.

And capable, honest Paul Martin? He says he didn't notice a thing. The money was filched from right under his nose. He overlooked the abuses at the time, and even now he has no idea where the money went or who took it. But don't blame him! Nobody is more upset at the disappearance of your vacation, your car, your RRSP than he is. Really. And though it was regrettably not possible for him to get to the bottom of the scandal before he called the election, he solemnly promises a full accounting sometime after he is safely returned to office.

So we come back to my position on Martin.

First off, I don't like being demonized by Paul Martin and his gang. Yes, I don't like what Klien is likely to do with health care, but it's none of Martin's business. I haven't seen Martin dong anything to help improve health care. Rather he cut transfer payments to aggravate the problem. We aren't "dark forces" just because we recognize the problem, the failings of the Liberals, and think that we might want to try a better government. If the NDP who's even farther from us ideologically can be respectful, then so can the Liberals. The Liberals chose not to because we Albertans are a pawn in their thirst for power. Shame on Martin for treating us like that after making an explicit promise to treat us with the respect we deserve.

Moving on, as Frum illustrates, despite surpluses our economy isn't that well off according to a more careful analysis of underlying indicators. And it certainly isn't helping ordinary Canadians. Especially lower middle class Canadians. People aren't better off because of Martin and the Liberals and our country's future is not economically secure. This makes them a poor managers of our economy and one that has put our future in some danger. A government should make the country better. But let's put this aside for a minute.

Despite poor management of the economy, Martin was still fortunate to run surpluses because the strength of the US economy spilt over into Canada. Martin and his party had the chance to use that money to improve the country in other ways. He could have invested in health care, education, affordable housing, the environment, or reducing poverty. Instead he let things get worse in all these areas. That is a failure of governance and budget-making. But let's put even this aside for a minute.

Martin and the Liberals took Canadians' money—money they needed to pay for their education, for their children, for their expensive housing, for high drug costs—and used this money for wasteful purposes. They wasted $2 billion dollars on the gun registry which still isn't up and running in any meaningful fashion. They wasted $1 billion on the HRDC boondoggle. They spend money on programs that were poorly administered allowing for thing such as a book on blonde jokes to get government funding. And despite Auditor-General reports highlighting these problems, the problems weren't solved. That was money that could have been used for useful purposes. Money that many Canadians needed to avoid hardship. Martin and the Liberals failed all these Canadians. But I'll even put this aside.

What is utterly unaccptable is that Martin and the Liberals also spent our money on themselves. Martin's company got a more favourable tax regime (while, of course, avoiding most taxes because it was not registered in Canada). It got $160 million in government contracts. Martin's friends in Earnscliffe were hired in contracts that weren't tendered. And money was funneled to Liberal party donors in the sponsorship scandal. Martin and the Liberals didn't just fail Canadians in improving the country. They didn't just fail Canadians in letting things get worse. They didn't just fail Canadians in wasting their money. They even failed Canadians in stealing their money. Martin took Canadian's money and gave it to his friends and himself.

I don't buy this crock argument that Martin is innocent. Martin was the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance administers finances. That means it is his job to make sure money is spent as budgeted and is not wasted or misused. It means that he is supposed to adapt the budget each year to eliminate funding to wasteful programs. Paul Martin was also the political Minister for Quebec. That means it was his job to advise the Prime Minister on policies and initiatives in Quebec as well as advise on who to reward in Quebec (e.g. who gets appointments, who gets patronage, who gets contracts etc.). Martin's job was to prevent misuses of money like the sponsorship scandal. It was his job to advise on which companies would get contracts in government programs. If Martin didn't know about the sponsorship program he was either (a) incompetent or (b) not doing his job. One doesn't become a self-made millionaire by being incompetent and/or lazy. Martin knew. And he definitely should have known.

So while Martin was busy damaging the country, wasting our money, rewarding his friends, and lining his own pockets, what else did he do? He plotted his own quest for power. He plotted his accession to the Prime Minister's office. He almost never took a position on any issue because he didn't want a record to come back and haunt him. Rather, he hijacked the Liberal party. And when he did get power, what did he do with it? Nothing. He has no vision, no plan. He wanted the power and nothing else. He didn't use it to make our lives better. And after six months of doing nothing he decided to call an election and expect we'd put him in office for another five years.

Canada has real problems. Our health care system is in danger. People can't access education. We're losing people to the US because we can't offer a good economic environment for them. People live in poverty. People who can't afford homes die on the streets. But what did Paul Martin do? He stole our money, squandered it, gave it to his friends, lined his own pockets, and funneled it to political friendly firms that would help him win power and keep it. He spent 10 years playing political games for his own benefit at the expense of Canadians. And when we figured out what he was doing, he promised he would find out for us before the next election. And what did he do? He covered up the mess by obstructing the Parliamentary inquiry, eventually dissolving it, and then calling an election before a judicial inquiry could begin to look into things. He hoped to be rewarded for his actions with power. When the judicial inquiry revealed the truth, he'd have a few years in power with his fresh mandate to let people forget.

Such conduct is criminal in the private sector. In government, Martin expects it to be rewarded with our trust, trust he has repeatedly failed to honour in spectacular fashion. The man belongs in jail. I can't fathom how anyone could think he belongs in the Prime Minister's office.