In the coming days, Ottawa’s phony war will finally come to an end.

The Commons will rise and when MPs next take their seats, we will have been through what could be one of the most hotly contested election campaigns in our history.

So this is a good time to point out five issues a government seeking a renewed mandate doesn’t want to discuss.

These are five issues the Stephen Harper team has aggressively kicked to the curb, all too volatile and potentially damaging, in their view, to actually be part of the national debate.

If Kim Campbell once infamously told us that campaigns were no place to discuss complex issues, this Conservative government has taken that maxim and expanded it to include the pre-election period in a fixed-date election race.

There is some truth to the Campbell theory: complex policies can be background wallpaper to a choice which often hinges on personalities, the need for change or the need for stability.

Will any of these get an airing between now and Oct. 19?

Senatereform

The messiest of all issues with its constitutional complexities, Harper is going to work hard not to be drawn into this during an election. There is no upside for a man who once made reform a centrepiece of his appeal to voters, then appointed more senators than any prime minister and has seen the place fall into unprecedented ill repute under his watch. But his “Senate, heal thyself,” position won’t cut it.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair will campaign on abolition, but unless he fleshes out a position which is really a populist bumper sticker, he will face repeated questions on how he would find unanimity among provinces and he is headed for a collision in his home province of Quebec. This is a minefield, no matter how tempting it is for the NDP to beat the abolition drum.

First Nations

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission handed the government 94 recommendations and a historic opportunity to reset a relationship. But this an election year, so the Conservatives merely thanked chair Murray Sinclair and said they would study and wait for the final report, an excuse of convenience to get this off the electoral map.

Conversely, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau committed his party to all 94 recommendations without any cost analysis. It was an astounding policy decision which is almost certainly unattainable, but stayed largely under the radar.

Assisted suicide

Last February, the country’s top court unanimously ruled Canadians had a right to end their life with a doctor’s help to alleviate pain and suffering.

It gave the government 12 months to rewrite the Criminal Code or the decision stands.

Harper acknowledged that assisted suicide is a sensitive topic that engenders “strong opinions on both sides,” then retreated to his mantra about examining the decision and holding broad consultations.

A bid by Trudeau to strike a parliamentary committee to study the issue led to silence in Ottawa, leaving the next Parliament a perilous timeline to deal with such a substantive issue because it was too volatile to deal with in an election year.

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Environmental decisions

In May, Harper committed Canada to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, but any heavy lifting on the climate file is being done by the provinces. At the G7 summit last week, Harper agreed to a commitment toward “decarbonization’’ of the global economy — in 85 years — after reportedly pushing back on a tougher resolution.

On other environmental decisions, the punting is more blatant.

Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq was to rule on a proposed nuclear waste site on the shores of Lake Huron by September, after a federal review panel recommended approval. But it is highly divisive among communities affected, so Aglukkaq merely put the decision off until December, after the vote.

Future of Iraq mission

As my colleague Thomas Walkom points out, the “half-war” against the Islamic State is not working and will eventually lead to pressure for a larger commitment from countries such as Canada.

But that pressure will be kept to the back channels until after October, so Harper can talk tough on security without having to deal with tricky decisions over the horizon.

It is the right of a government — and politically smart — to try to craft the narrative during a campaign.

The opposition parties will use the same political calculus in deciding which of these issues to highlight.

On the other issues, well, we can talk amongst ourselves.

Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca Twitter:@nutgraf1

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