The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a federal budget that was largely devoid of content, and mercifully dead on arrival. Now that the government has been toppled, there’s hope that a more compelling vision will take this budget’s place.

The 2011 budget seemed like little more than a strategic exercise — most notably, by granting the New Democratic Party’s wish for a boost in the guaranteed income supplement and by funding the home-efficiency retrofit program. It also doled out a series of modest breaks to families (a new caregiver’s tax credit, and a new arts education credit), small business (a hiring credit) and the manufacturing sector (extending the accelerated capital-cost allowance rate for investment in machinery and equipment).

The only news for financial advisors in the budget was that it promised to close up certain loopholes and do away with some aggressive tax planning strategies. (And, despite the government’s defeat, advisors should expect those measures to endure.)

What the budget didn’t do was lay out any grand plan for the future. Perhaps the government couldn’t do that when its primary aim was to hang on a bit longer by offering some sops to the Opposition. Anything visionary was sure to be defeated, and the government seemed intent on sending the message that it simply represented a steady hand on the tiller.

Now that Harper’s administration has been defeated, however, the pendulum will surely swing the other way. The bluster and blarney of an election campaign will fill the vacuum left by the bland budget with grandiose, empty promises from all parties.

What the country needs is a realistic vision for dealing with the challenges that were largely dodged in the budget. Canada has an aging population and an inadequate retirement-income system. The country needs a strategy for improving economic productivity, a plan for dealing with steadily rising health-care demands and some clue about how to face climate change. And Canada must confront these issues while also curbing the deficit. Hopefully, whomever forms the next government will have the necessary mandate — and the ideas — to give the country some much needed direction.