Our tax dollars shouldn’t be used to win our votes.

But it’s an election year in Canada and apparently our politicians think it’s OK to do so.

Whether it’s wasted tax dollars spent on partisan “government” advertising – or “middle class” tax cuts – your tax dollars are being used to try to win your support.

The Stephen Harper government is certainly not the first to use taxpayer money to pay for self-serving advertising -- the Liberals were guilty of it, too -- but has taken it to new levels of partisanship.

The Canadian Press reports the Harper government is spending $13.5 million over two months to promote its April 21 budget alone.

Total spending on such advertising has been estimated at more than $750 million since Harper took office in 2006.

I don’t know what makes me more upset – watching former Toronto Maple Leaf players succeeding with other Stanley Cup playoff teams, or watching the never-ending taxpayer-funded government ads in between periods.

Harper has spent money to advertise government programs before they even launch.

Even the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on him to end the practice.

Fixing this problem is relatively simple and could be put in place this spring to apply to whichever party forms the next federal government in the fall.

Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty addressed the practice of partisan, taxpayer-funded government advertising by referring all of it for review to the auditor general.

Harper should do the same. It will help ensure government advertising serves the purpose of informing taxpayers of public services in a non-partisan, effective manner.

(Ironically, the auditor general recently complained that changes to this legislation proposed in the Ontario Liberal government’s April budget will gut the law.)

Not to be outdone by Harper’s budget ad blitz in the search for votes, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau last week announced a tax cut for “middle class” Canadians if he wins the next election.

Conservatives were quick to respond, touting their own family-friendly measures in the federal budget, including increasing the limit on tax-free savings accounts.

Now we have duelling middle-class tax plans from Harper and Trudeau.

While “middle class” tax relief is politically popular, both the Liberal and Conservative plans fail from a policy and public relations perspective.

First, by targeting tax cuts exclusively to the middle class, politicians are excluding half the country.

According to a recent Pollara study “In Search of the ‘Middle Class’: Canadians under Financial Stress,” 51% of Canadians self-identify as “middle class.”

But almost half (46%) identify as working class or poor.

The poll found Canadians are most concerned about the rising cost of living – not saving money.

In the same survey, only one in 10 said they were financially secure.

This is leading many Canadians to lose hope about their future economic success and about what the standard of living for their children will be.

The traditional, politically expedient way to deal with this lack of hope is for governments to offer people some of their own money back, or to help them avoid paying taxes in the future.

But Canadians know they cannot advance from the poor or working classes to financial security through tax cuts.

We need politicians to spend our tax dollars more wisely and an honest election debate about this.

Our cities are congested with traffic and need new and improved infrastructure, public transit and highways.

Our provinces need increased resources to fund a health care system facing a generational crisis.

Our youth need improved access to education.

Our taxes pay for these things, which are the real pillars by which Canadians can move ahead economically and improve their quality of life.

Taxes should provide government with the resources to give us the tools we need to create jobs and economic wealth, leading to more people earning more money and with that, a higher standard of living.

What our taxes shouldn’t be used for is partisan advertising and buying our votes at election time.