What was said on the campaign trail Friday

Most Canadians are fed up with Harper’s politics of division and feel the critical ballot-box question is not, “How can we stop women from wearing a niqab at citizenship ceremonies?” “About 10 per cent of the entire population of Quebec City died from the ship-borne diseases”, he said.

Why the grocery store?

Stephen Harper stands for a set of fixed principles: he’s for less government, lower taxes, keeping criminals in jail longer, free trade, and military muscle to fight terrorists.

“Trudeau enjoys an advantage on the perception he has the best plan for the economy and competitively trails in terms of economic risk as a leader in general”, said Nik Nanos, president of Nanos Research Group. Mulcair went over the highlights one more time and repeated his commitment to repeal Bill C51. He also demanded that Harper apologize.

The parties pledge new transit spending – the NDP says C$1.7 billion over the next four years, the Liberals C$5.65 billion over the same period – on top of what Harper’s government has already budgeted.

Lavigne says the party is now hitting 45 target ridings where NDP candidates “came a strong second to the Conservatives”.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair said the NDP is more than happy to form a coalition to defeat the Conservatives – and blamed the Liberals for jettisoning previous attempts. Mulcair then repeated it all in English. Mulcair’s math assumes his party will hold all the seats it has.

Leave aside the attack ads, the personality wars, and the rhetorical sniping that accompany all close-fought election campaigns. The difference was stark. His plan would be income-tested “to ensure that it is targeted to the middle class and those working hard to join it”.

But not all economists agree there’s a big payback to the economy from infrastructure investment. Harper didn’t mention health care or the environment. But a few accused the government of an anti-Muslim bias and pandering to certain ethnic communities in Canada. Climate change gets two pages down on page 146.

His political rivals had earlier pounced on the news to criticize Harper’s handling of Canada’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Last Saturday the Globe and Mail, the traditional mouthpiece of the Bay Street financial elite, devoted seven newspaper pages to a flattering portrait of Trudeau.

An audit of Syrian refugee files ordered by the Prime Minister’s Office in the spring was not limited to potential security concerns, but examined all aspects of the process – including whether Christians and other vulnerable groups were getting priority status. Today Harper chose his words carefully and said the religious minorities were, “not exclusively Christian by any means”.

Harper said he thinks he can win the election and will accept whatever “mandate” he is given. Sources had told the Globe the PMO’s office was directly involved in that decision making.

Harper didn’t address the controversial FIPA deal or the Trans Pacific Partnership in his speech, and chose to focus on improved Chinese immigration, worldwide student, and family visas under his watch. The poll found that in Ontario, the Liberals now have a commanding lead over the Conservatives, 44 per cent to 37 per cent. While the Greens are statistically insignificant at five per cent, their 10 per cent support in B.C.is largely on Vancouver Island, where they have a magnified effect.

With recent polls suggesting the Liberals may be solidifying their support under Trudeau, but not quite enough to win a majority, Mulcair gave no assurances that his New Democrats would work with a minority Liberal government in the House of Commons. The GTA and the greater Vancouver area are also showing signs of volatility.

Here in the East, the anti-Harper vote has swung overwhelmingly toward the Liberals, at the New Democrats’ expense.