Harper talks trade during Halifax campaign stop
Posted Mar 31, 2011 05:37:50 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says a Liberal minority government supported by the NDP and Bloc Quebecois would be unable to negotiate new international trade agreements.
Campaigning in Halifax today, Harper says a Liberal minority government would be hamstrung by conflicting agendas under such a scenario.
He says the result would be a “gong show,” because the NDP and Bloc have historically opposed free trade deals.
Harper is again trying to focus the campaign on the economy, fiscal matters and lumping the three opposition parties into a coalition.
He says a Conservative government would aim to work out trade agreements with the European Union by 2012 and with India by 2013.
After Halifax, Harper is headed to to Newfoundland and Labrador, where he’s expected to announce support for the $6.2 billion Lower Churchill hydroelectricity project.
A government source says Harper will announce support for the construction of subsea cables – though that may not mean the loan guarantees Nova Scotia and Newfoundland have asked for.
The two provinces have said that if Ottawa backs the loans it would significantly reduce the price of the project.
Stephen Harper is the first federal leader to visit Atlantic Canada so far. Jack Layton will be in Dartmouth on Sunday and Michael Ignatieff will host a rally in downtown Halifax on Sunday.
While Harper visits Halifax and St. John’s today, Michael Ignatieeff is in Winnipeg, Man., and London, Ont. Jack Layton will be in Montreal, and Elizabeth May visits Sidney, Victoria and Saanich, B.C.
