By their fruits shall ye know them - well what are Harper's fruits? - dysfunctional committees, de-stabilized arms length institutions, downsized and disempowered federal departments and an economy teetering on the brink. These are not unfortunate consequences, they are Harper's intended outcomes, aspects of his overall goal: to reduce the scope and power of the federal government. And I suggest that he's delighted with his Elections Canada strategy - to ultimately weaken yet another central Canadian institution while pretending to be the victim.