Playing name game on campaign trail

Leaders debate not just own platforms, but what to properly call each other

Mr. Harper has shown time and time again that his plan of helping the wealthiest Canadians is not working to grow this economy.

Call political leaders what you will, but the debate Tuesday seemed all about what they call each other.

Justin or Trudeau? Tom or Thomas? Prime minister or Conservative leader?

And they say an election campaign isn’t the time to discuss serious issues.

“I think I use that sometimes, and sometimes I don’t,” Stephen Harper said Tuesday when asked about his recent predilection for referring to the Liberal leader by his first name. “That’s how, in our experience, Canadians generally refer to him because that’s how the Liberal party has branded him.”

The Liberal leader shrugged it off as a sideshow as he unleashed another broadside against his Conservative rival’s economic record.

“We have a time right now when the economy is struggling, when we’re sliding into recession, where Mr. Harper has shown time and time again that his plan of helping the wealthiest Canadians is not working to grow this economy,” Trudeau said in Mississauga.

“His distraction is working, because I just got two questions on that, rather than on how to build a stronger economy for the future of this country.”

The centrepiece of Harper’s campaign so far came Tuesday in the form of a retooled renovation tax credit — permanent, unlike in 2009, but applicable to only $5,000 of eligible costs, instead of $10,000 — worth $1.5 billion a year. “The renovation tax credit helps every homeowner, regardless of income,” Harper said in Toronto. “I know Justin Trudeau doesn’t think every family deserves help, but we do.”

However, there’s a catch: the credit won’t be introduced until Canada finds itself navigating smoother economic waters, likely sometime in the middle of a Conservative mandate, Harper suggested.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair resurfaced Tuesday in the Montreal riding of Mount Royal that’s become a fulcrum of sorts for the first week of the campaign.

He was happy to answer media queries — including about his name. “If I’m with my family or long-term friends, I’ve always been Tommy,” he said. “But I felt that in the NDP, if I started calling myself Tommy, people would say that I was being ambitious compared to one of the founders of this party” — a reference to medicare founder Tommy Douglas.

Mulcair was less amused when asked about Trudeau dismissing the NDP’s proposed $15 minimum wage as a “mirage” that wouldn’t apply to 99 per cent of minimumwage workers in Canada.

“I’m not too sure what that word is supposed to mean, but maybe he could start sharing with us his plan, because nobody knows it,” Mulcair said. “I want to be a champion for manufacturing. I want to kick-start the economy. I want to start creating full-time, well-paid jobs.”

Duceppe urged Mulcair to clarify his position on the Energy East pipeline project, accusing him of delivering different messages depending on where he’s speaking. He said Mulcair came out in support of the pipeline project during a speech in Toronto while saying he opposed it in an interview with L’Actualite magazine, fearing a loss of votes out West. “Is he for or against? ... He has to say that, not only in Quebec, but also when he is campaigning in the West,” Duceppe said.