OTTAWA — The Federal Accountability Act became law Tuesday, marking the biggest legislative accomplishment yet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government.

Governor General Michaelle Jean made it official by giving the anti-corruption bill Royal Assent in the Senate chamber, with Harper and Senate Conservative Leader Marjory LeBreton lending the affair some pomp and circumstance.

The Act was the bedrock of the Tory platform during last winter's election campaign, successfully sold to voters as a cure for the corruption uncovered during the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal.

The legislation will likely form part of the next federal election campaign, held up as hard evidence that Harper has been able to deliver on his promises.

"This isn't the biggest reform in a generation, this is the biggest reform in Canadian history of government,'' Treasury Board President John Baird, the minister who navigated the bill through the parliamentary process, said in an interview.

"It's no longer a promise, it's no longer a bill, it's the law in Canada tonight, and we're excited about that.''

Among its many measures, the law will reduce the amount that Canadians can donate to political parties; make it easier for bureaucrats to blow the whistle on questionable behaviour; and place restrictions on the movement of public office holders into the lobbying world.

New Democrat MP Pat Martin said it was worth potentially hurting his career for supporting the government on the bill.

"We've made enormous progress with this thing, and if we do nothing else in the 39th Parliament, we can point to this in years to come and say we changed the patronage and the sleaze and the culture of patronage that allowed corruption to flourish,'' Martin said. "And I'm proud of it.''

Still, the legislation has not had a smooth ride.

While it passed through the Commons in a few months, it became bogged down in the Liberal-dominated Senate through the summer and fall. Senators insisted they wanted to give the massive bill the attention it deserved, and brought in dozens of amendments before punting it back to the House.

Last week, the parties finally struck a deal to ease its passage through both chambers, the Liberals clearly aware of the bad optics of their Senators thwarting the will of elected members.

Liberal MP Stephen Owen disputes Baird's assessment that the bill is the greatest reform of Canadian ethics laws in history, pointing out that his government was the first to drastically reduce political contributions and create an independent ethics commissioner for the Commons.

And he decried the fact the Tories held off on promised changes to access to information laws designed to improve government transparency.

Still, he says there was no reason not to pass it.

"It's better than nothing, but it's not perfect,'' Owen said. "We're not dancing in the streets, but we're waiting for a chance to make it even better.'' 

The Liberals chalked up two victories during the wrangling. For one, the bill was held up for long enough that the new political contribution limit of $1,000 didn't affect their leadership convention, which was planned using the assumption the limit was still $5,000.

And secondly, they managed to ensure that the Senate and Commons would maintain separate ethics officers _ a matter of great principle to some in the upper chamber.

So, what kind of tangible changes will government see now that the Federal Accountability Act has become law?

"One should not assume that this is a win-win _ there's a win, and there's a word of caution,'' said public policy expert Donald Savoie, an adviser to the Gomery commission.

In the win category, Savoie believes the rule-breaking that occurred during the sponsorship scandal would potentially be prevented under the Act, particularly the whistleblower provisions that protect bureaucrats from reprisals.

"It'll be much more difficult for a rogue civil servant to go native and to just take off and do what he thinks his political masters want.''

In the word-of-caution category, Savoie warns that government is likely to get more timid, more bureaucratic and generally slower as a result of the new measures.

And there are other impacts from the Act that Savoie himself can't predict but that he's sure will unfold with time.

"No government reform measure has ever been introduced in the history of public administration that didn't have some unforeseen circumstances. It just goes with the territory,'' Savoie said.

"I would urge parliamentarians to revisit the act in four or five years.''