Canadian economy prime focus of leaders

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Conservative leader Stephen Harper and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau were out on the campaign trail today, with the Canadian economy taking centre stage once again.

The federal leaders are engaged in a serious debate, as their visions of how to balance the country’s books and grow the economy are clashing.

The focus on the economy is intensifying, after another roller coaster day on the markets. For most of today it appeared that U.S. stocks were rallying in the wake of the economic slowdown in China. But then they fell sharply in the final hour of trading.

The dow jones plummeted more than 200 points, extending Wall street’s losing streak to 6 days. Stephen Harper, who’s making a campaign stop in Hamilton this Thursday, laid out plans to bolster the economy in the face of sliding markets, starting with a $26 million plan to expand the cruise ship ports in Quebec.

Meanwhile Liberal leader Justin Trudeau spoke in Toronto, saying he isn’t ready to commit to a no-deficit budget because more needs to be done to stimulate growth and help the middle class.

Trudeau also unveiled members of his economic team today, one of them being former Prime Minister Paul Martin, who helped wipe out the federal deficit during his time as finance minister in the 1990’s.