Tories keep up attacks on Trudeau as Liberals’ momentum continues
Justin Trudeau mused about a majority Wednesday as his Liberals ride high atop polls that suggest they have the all-important momentum heading into next week’s election — a surge that has them squarely in the Conservative crosshairs.
As he has done all week, Stephen Harper spent his entire public appearance attacking Trudeau, warning Canadians that there is “a lot at stake” in Monday’s vote and painting the Liberal plan as a path to higher taxes — and economic ruin.
“The time has come to be extremely clear about the risk Canadians take when they endorse that Liberal approach,” Harper said.
The Conservatives are “playing the politics of fear and spreading falsehoods about the Liberal plan,” the Liberals countered.
Also entering the fray Wednesday was Hazel McCallion, the 94-year-old former mayor of Mississauga, Ont., who appeared in a Liberal ad refuting Harper’s claim that Trudeau intends to eliminate income splitting for seniors.
“It’s like one of those phone scams seniors get because Harper thinks we’re scared,” McCallion says in the ad. “Stephen, do I look scared to you?” Trudeau was to finish his day with a rally in Ajax, Ont., in what may be one of the most closely watched ridings of this campaign. Former Liberal MP Mark Holland is looking to unseat Conservative Chris Alexander to win his way back to the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives and the NDP are focusing on shoring up support in ridings they held at dissolution.
Harper took his campaign Wednesday to southwestern Ontario, where the Conservatives are still considered front-runners in some of the more rural ridings despite a concerted push by the NDP and the Liberals.
Later Wednesday, Harper headed to a rally in Brampton, Ont., a key region for the Conservatives, who swept the area in 2011 and are trying to keep the seats from veering back to the Liberals.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair insisted his party is still very much in the mix, and that he remains the best bet to topple Harper.
“I share optimism and confidence with the people I meet across the country,” Mulcair said. “Whatever the polls have shown, I’ve said the same thing. For the first time in Canadian history, we have a three-way race.”
But like Harper, Mulcair, too, spent the day shoring up existing support, first taking his campaign to Nova Scotia, where at least one of his three incumbents — Robert Chisholm in Dartmouth-Cole Harbour — is locked in a tough fight.
Later in the day, Mulcair was off to campaign in Quebec, a province that gave the New Democrats 59 seats in 2011 and helped elevate his party to Official Opposition status for the first time.