Trudeau promises to increase funding for the arts and CBC

Immigration lawyer Sherif Ashamalla said that in his experience refugees from Beirut will typically face up to a year of additional waiting because they still have to go through two more steps after approval: a medical check and police check.

The Conservatives, under Mr. Harper, have been forging ahead with this purchase and the other parties have reservations, to say the least. That has raised questions over how long that government could survive.

Mulcair also pledged to do more for the country’s military veterans, promising more federal health care support, including $454 million over four years for treatment of post-traumatic stress.

“This government hasn’t been honest with Canadians about whether they have done due diligence”, he said.

The NDP leader added that such a system “can guarantee a reduction”.

Harper exploited the refugee issue to appeal to the most backward sentiments.

The debate took place a day after the NDP had released a brief document that purportedly costs its economic policies.

For years, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair was one of the biggest cheerleaders for Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Kevin Page. “That’s not the way these things work”, Mulcair told reporters. “With the Liberal plan, Canadians will get the help they need to strengthen their families and build better communities”.

Under this narrative, Canadian voters are casting about looking for an agent of change to hang their hopes on and eventually the “change vote” will coalesce around either the Liberals or the NDP, catapulting that party to victory.

Trudeau, has, however, supported the Harper government in the past on several pieces of legislation, including the controversial Bill C-51, which gives new powers to Canada’s security services and makes it easier for government departments to share the private information of Canadians.

Trudeau attacked Mulcair for his emphatic opposition to any increase in the taxes on wealthy Canadians, including the bloated incomes of the richest 1 and 0.1percent.

Tom Mulcair, for his part, has suggested he is open to a coalition with the Liberals.

The Conservative minister of veterans affairs, Erin O’Toole, said the Liberal Party was turning cutting the military into a political gimmick.

In Montreal on Friday, Trudeau was asked why he didn’t immediately call Harper out for the “old stock” quip.

The Tories have been heavily criticizing the fiscal plan from the Liberals, which is to run deficits by borrowing billions of dollars at low interest rates and investing that money in infrastructure.

A very disciplined Harper continually repeated his refrain that Liberal and NDP economics involved either permanent deficits, raising payroll taxes or a combination of both.

Trudeau maintained that Canada is under no contractual obligation to buy the F-35, acknowledging that the previous Liberal government committed to an global partnership to develop a prototype of the new jet fighter more than a decade ago.

“Mr. Trudeau also seems completely ignorant of our $4.3-billion Halifax Class Frigate Modernization Program, which is on deadline and on budget”, Kenney tweeted.