Mmmm.......... well, federal taxes, excluding social security, dropped from about 13.8% of GDP to 11.5% under the last CPC government, but  federal spending rose from 19.3% up to 21.16% just before the last election, so a mixed CPC record there.  Spending actually fell from a peak of 25.25% in 1992 down to 19.3% in 2006 under the 'free spending' Liberals!  Of course we've got more regulations and programs and handouts with every successive government, Liberal or Conservative, as well as carmakers and bank bailouts after the 2008 crash,  so I have no idea how you'd quantify "more personal responsibility", but it's not a policy where Conservatives do more than talk about it!