Leaders campaigning across the country today

[projekktor id=’21181′]

With about two and half weeks left in this extended election campaign, the federal party leaders were spread across the country today.

Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau proposed to modernize health care, and make a real and immediate investment in home care for Canadians. Campaigning in Surrey, British Columbia, Trudeau said a Liberal government will negotiate a new health accord with provinces and territories, including a new, long term agreement on funding. This will include: an immediate investment of $3 billion over the next 4 years to prioritize additional and improved home care services. He also proposed improving access and reducing the cost of prescription medications, as well as increasing the availability of high quality mental health services.

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair committed $100 million to 25 northern and remote communities to invest in wind, small scale hydro and other clean energy to replace diesel generation. Campaigning in Iqaluit today, Mulcair accused Stephen Harper of muzzling scientists and preventing leading experts from sharing important scientific information, whenever it didn’t suit conservative ideologies and objectives. Mulcair said the NDP plan to restore science-based decision making, includes an end to the Conservatives’ policy of muzzling scientists. “Stephen Harper has decimated the public service by firing more than 4,000 federal researchers and science personnel in the last 4 years alone. He has delivered a huge blow by cutting over $1.1 billion in federal funding for science and technology. And like the Liberals before him, Stephen Harper has allowed greenhouse gas emissions to continue to increase. Emissions have risen by 4 percent in 4 years. We’ve fallen behind the United States, we’ve been slammed by the United Nations. And now our record on tackling climate change is the worst of the wealthiest 27 countries in the world.”

As for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, he was in the Toronto area today filming campaign ads before heading to Quebec City for a rally this evening. The opposition leaders are attacking him for the on-going negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, saying the discussions are too secretive. Finance Minister Joe Oliver is defending the government’s right to conduct official business during the election period.