VOTE 2015

Harper makes final push with area candidates

October 7, 2015   ·   0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Canadians have just under two weeks to make a choice on who they want to form the next Federal government and for Conservative leader Stephen Harper, of course, that choice is clear.

Mr. Harper made his remarks surrounded by York Region candidates on Monday on a campaign stop in Richmond Hill, which was a rally for local party faithful, at the manufacturing plant for Hibar Systems.

Joined by Newmarket-Aurora candidate Lois Brown and Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill candidate Costas Menegakis, who emceed the event, Mr. Harper’s appearance came on the heels of Canada’s participation in the new Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, announced earlier that day.

“Our economy is…fragile [and] it needs careful management,” Mr. Harper told party faithful, including former Toronto councillor and mayoral candidate Doug Ford. “On October 19, Canadians will choose the government they believe in a world of economic turmoil, the government they believe is capable of managing and protecting this fragile economy and your jobs. It is a choice with real consequences for hardworking Canadians and families. The wrong decisions on the national level on taxes, on spending, on deficits will cause real economic damage everywhere, including here in your community. That is why [with] our Conservative government, security and the protection of our fragile economy is job number one.

“We have a positive plan to manage our economy over the next four years. Our government’s economic action plan, our plan to grow our economy and make affordable and effective investments will maintain our balanced budgets, keeping taxes down, and building prosperity for all Canadians.”

Key in this plan, he said, was that Trans Pacific partnership, which Mr. Harper touted as a “historic step and a great deal” for Canada, giving Canadian manufacturers access to 11 countries in the Asian-Pacific Region with “a combined GDP of almost $30 trillion” and a market of potentially 800 million.

It will also go a long way, he added, in creating “new, well-paying jobs” across the country, building on Canada’s heritage which, he said, was based on trade, from Aboriginal peoples trading with French and English traders.

“Export-related jobs are overwhelmingly good jobs typically requiring above-average skills and paying above-average wages,” said Mr. Harper. “This agreement will pave the way for the creation of countless more of these good jobs for Canadians. This is the largest economic partnership in history, guaranteeing our role in setting the rules for 21st century global trade, opening up vast new markets to enterprise, ingenuity and jobs from coast to coast.”

Touting investments the Conservatives have made in the area, including infusions to VIVA and York Region Transit, the Spadina subway extension and the creation of facilities for Pan Am and Parapan 2015, Mr. Harper said these investments were made with a “balanced budget”, a trend that would remain if they are re-elected this month.

“The choice in this election could not be more clear or more important,” he said. “It is going to make a big material difference to your lives. The other parties, the Liberals and the NDP offer a very different path when it comes to the Canadian economy.

“The Liberals and the NDP have made tens of billions of dollars of spending promises with money they do not have, money they can only get by running large, ongoing deficits and raising their taxes. Be under no illusion: those kinds of Liberal and NDP promises aren’t just things that might sound good in a pamphlet. In an unstable world, they are dangerous and reckless promises that, if implemented, will hurt our fragile economy, drive up taxes on Canadian families, lead to reductions in your benefits and services, and kill jobs across the country, including right here in the GTA.”

         

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