Conservative Leader Stephen Harper continues to insist that the Canadian economy is in good shape, as his rivals seize on the official confirmation from Statistics Canada that the country dipped into a technical recession this year.
The latest data shows that Canada’s real gross domestic product declined by an annualized rate of 0.5 per cent in the April-June period, after falling by 0.8 per cent in the quarter from January-March. Since the GDP has been in decline for two straight quarters, that meets the technical definition of a recession.
The NDP and the Liberals said Tuesday, that the StatsCan report confirms what they’ve been saying all along: Harper and his Conservatives are incapable of managing the economy and it’s time for change.
But at a campaign stop in Burlington, Ont., Harper once again avoided using the word “recession,” and instead chose to focus on the 0.5 per cent GDP growth in June.
“Let’s be clear what the data says today,” Harper said. “Over 80 per cent of the Canadian economy has been growing all along and the Canadian economy posted very strong growth in June.”
He added that further growth is expected “for the balance of the year.”
Harper repeated the “stay-the-course” message he has been delivering at every appearance since the economy became the dominant issue on the campaign trail.
“We’ve had a couple of weak months, but the fact of the matter is over this period, over the long haul, post the global financial crisis, Canadians know there’s no better place to be in this country, there are no better prospects in this country and that’s where we’ll go if we stay on course,” he said.
Speaking in Kelowna, B.C., NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said the StatsCan numbers “show that Canada is ready for change.”
“Mr. Harper’s plan clearly isn’t working.”
Mulcair said his party has a plan to “kickstart the economy,” which includes raising corporate taxes while giving tax breaks to small-andmedium-sized businesses.
“The NDP has a proud track record of balancing budgets and providing key social programs. I’m going to continue in that tradition,” he said.
At a campaign stop in Gatineau, Que., Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau also said the latest figures show that Harper’s approach “has not worked.”
“The news that is consuming Ottawa today is old hat to Canadians across the country. They know Stephen Harper’s approach is failing them,” he said.
Andrew Thomson, the NDP candidate for the Ontario riding of Eglinton-Lawrence and former Saskatchewan finance minister, said Canada has had a “lost decade” under Harper.
“After multiple years of deficit budgets, $150 billion in new debt and two recessions, people are telling us they have had enough,” he told a news conference Tuesday.
The NDP also attacked Trudeau’s economic plan, especially his recent pledge to run short-term “modest” deficits.
“The list of Liberal cuts that will be required to balance the budget in 2019 is not only growing, it's larger than the entire provincial budgets of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Peggy Nash, the NDP candidate for Parkdale-High Park.
Both the NDP and the Tories are promising to balance the books right away.
Trudeau said Tuesday that he will balance the budget by 2019, and in the meantime invest in economic growth and tax breaks for families. He said that the Conservatives and the NDP would have to drastically slash spending in order to make good on their promises.
The NDP has defended its economic plan as “fully costed” and “prudent,” but Harper said Tuesday that the party will instead turn to “runaway spending and high taxes."
At an evening rally in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Harper repeated the message that his Liberal and NDP opponents are risky.
“When you go out and buy a 6-49 and you lose, you can just throw the (lottery) ticket away and get on with your life,” Harper said.
“But when a national government goes off course with runaway spending, taxes and debt, all of its citizens lose and they lose for a very long time."
