Clement rips IMF head’s ‘left-wing ideology’

HALIFAX — Candidates vying for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party took aim at the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, saying its support for the federal government will kill jobs and plunge the country further into debt.

Leadership candidate Tony Clement went so far as to accuse Christine Lagarde, the head of the international body, of “spouting left-wing ideology” when she praised the fiscal policies of the federal government a day earlier in Ottawa.

“I don’t care if it’s the queen of Sheba — if you’re advancing theories based on left-wing ideology that means more tax and more spend, it will not create jobs,” he said on the last day of the Conservative caucus retreat in Halifax.

“We’re not going to fall down the same cliff again just because some expert from outta town has said it’s OK.”

Lagarde met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday and gave her stamp of approval to his economic initiatives, adding that she hoped they would “go viral” and spread to the European Union.

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said the IMF also praised the policies of the former Tory government under Stephen Harper during the global recession.

Instead, Ambrose said the party is paying closer attention to domestic indicators and the opinions of the Bank of Canada, the Conference Board of Canada and ordinary Canadians who are struggling with unemployment and increasing debt.

“These are people who are out of a job, these are people that are worried about their paycheques,” she said at the close of the two-day retreat. “Things are quite grim in a lot of parts of our country right now.”

The IMF’s support of Ottawa’s “growth strategy” could serve to weaken the Conservatives’ criticism of Trudeau’s economic policies, sure to be one of its main targets when it heads back to Parliament on Monday.

But Conservative finance critic Lisa Raitt said that while it’s nice to have Lagarde’s approval, both she and Trudeau failed to explain how the federal Liberal government will pay for its spending.