The one good thing that can come out of a catastrophe is that it forces you to repair things that have been left in need of fixing for far too long. On that basis, federal Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, may wish that this financial crisis was just a bit worse.

For decades it has been clear that Canada needs a single national securities regulator. Flaherty has been in favour of a single regulator for some time, but has been unwilling to foist it on the provinces; and, without a majority in Parliament, he is unable to force an issue that could have significant constitutional ramifications.

Theoretically, a financial crisis of epic proportions is the sort of event that should give Flaherty the sway to bring the provinces onside.

However, the crisis hasn’t been nearly as bad in Canada as it has been elsewhere — and the federal government has made a big show of claiming credit for this result.

Unfortunately for Flaherty, the bragging rights cut both ways. Defenders of the status quo in securities regulation can claim that the relatively modest impact of the crisis in Canada is evidence of the efficacy of the Canadian system.

In fact, from a purely political standpoint, this crisis has been the worst of both worlds for Flaherty.

While the economic downturn hasn’t been brutal enough to give the minister the clout to make fundamental institutional reform, it has been just bad enough to force the federal government to abandon its ideological commitment to fiscal conservatism.

In an effort to limit the wider economic fallout from this crisis, the federal government has had to offer a helping hand to the big banks (never a popular constituency with Canadian voters) in order to keep credit flowing.

The Tory government is now also facing an unexpected move into deficit territory, while it finds itself fielding calls for financial aid from the troubled automobile industry, as well as demands for fiscal stimulus to augment the massive monetary stimulus that had already been provided by the Bank of Canada.

Flaherty surely wouldn’t wish that the financial crisis was worse, but it might make his political life a bit easier if it were.