An obvious prescription

I've mentioned before how much of a slam dunk it should be for Harper to try to moderate his image by going along with the provincial consensus on the need for a national prescription drug program. Now, the provincial health ministers are renewing their push...but receiving conspicuously little support from Tony Clement:

Provincial and territorial health ministers are united in their support for a proposed national pharmacare program, but they say they can't do it without money from Ottawa.

The health ministers approved the latest progress report on the long-awaited National Pharmaceuticals Strategy during a meeting in Fredericton on Wednesday, but federal Health Minister Tony Clement was conspicuous by his absence.

Clement dialed into the meeting by telephone, but the health ministers said he did not join them in endorsing the progress report, which sets the stage for a system to make medications equally accessible and affordable across the country.

One would think that the politics alone would make the outcome obvious: the Cons have a choice between working to put a popular new program to their name, or picking an unnecessary fight against a united provincial front which reflects both public opinion and the national interest.

But then, that choice may turn the issue into an excellent litmus test of Harper's government. If the Cons really are so ideologically set against doing anything positive (or so focussed on doing nothing beyond their stated core priorities) as to choose the wrong side of the issue, that disinterest in good government almost certainly won't go unpunished next time Canada goes to the polls.