Trudeau’s Calgary appearance followed Harper’s foray into the riding of Mount Royal, long a bastion of Liberal support in Quebec that was once represented by Justin Trudeau’s father Pierre. He announced on August 2, 2015 outside Rideau Hall that parliamentary election has been scheduled for October 19, 2015.
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“Mr. Harper has the worst economic growth record of any prime minister since 1960”, Mulcair said.
Harper, 56, now wades into what polls suggest will be a tough election for his Conservative Party, which has been in power for nine years. “9 out of 10 Canadians will be better off in hard dollars and sense under our plan”.
The Harper government says it will change nothing.
Another month of economic contraction could make a suspected recession official by September.
Harper also boasted about Canada’s support for Israel under his administration, as well as his opposition to Russian aggression in Ukraine. Or Canadian voters could fall in line between one of the opposition parties and push it over the top.
The left-leaning New Democrats scored an upset in Alberta’s provincial election in May, where Progressive Conservative Premier Jim Prentice was accused of wasting taxpayer money with an early election.
After the numerous rumours and questioning of when the next federal election will be…it can all finally be put to rest as politicians are officially on the campaign trail.
Canadians do not vote directly for prime minister but will elect local members of Parliament in 338 electoral districts.
Middle class families “can’t get ahead” and Harper’s plan for the economy “isn’t working”, he said. This is the first time Canada is getting a long campaign period as most of the campaigns so far had been just over five weeks.
The Conservatives are locked in a three-way race with the New Democratic Party and the Liberals.
Harper calls the choice in this election “critical” and says it is important that Canadians think about the important issues. That, along with the fight against the so-called Islamic State, are likely to be headline issues for the campaign.
“It’s not necessarily fair to blame the federal government for the collapse in oil prices, but there are some deeper problems”, de Clercy said.
He also acknowledged that his party was on the best financial footing to run an extended campaign, sitting on significantly more cash than the NDP, Liberals, Greens or Bloc Quebecois.
One man managed to make it inside the building to protest Harper in person, while police said another man was arrested for uttering threats.
Trudeau responded by saying that Harper compromises Canadian interests by not working alongside those who do not share his ideologies.
“When you refer to somebody just by their first name, it feeds into the Conservative strategy of defining Justin Trudeau as young and inexperienced”, she told CTV News Channel Tuesday morning.
“It remains to be seen how he will withstand close scrutiny”, Johnston said.
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He predicted Harper would win a minority government based on polling, but noted most Canadians won’t start paying attention until September. “That decision will have real consequences”, he said.
