Federal leaders debate whether Canada is in recession

Harper said U.S. President Barack Obama never requested Canada take steps on climate change in exchange for Keystone approval, and reiterated a future president will eventually approve the pipeline. A surprise performance by one of the leaders could shake loose votes and set the tone for an election that already has a high degree of unpredictability.

Harper has said in the past that he would oppose a tax on Netflix and other streaming services. The primary televised debate was seen as a key check for Trudeau, the son of the person whose legacy Harper is making an attempt to erase.

“The choice is clear”, Harper said.

Opposition parties were quick to denounce the rumoured tax.

Mr Mulcair is now leading in the polls.

Political Scientist Kelly Blidook with Memorial University says it’s rare that someone really wins a debate, and this one is no different. He then goes on to address why he is discussing television shows with his would-be voters, and reveals that it is in regards to a potential “Netflix Tax” the New Democrats and Liberals have allegedly admitted they are considering charging for such streaming services.

As both Liberals and Conservatives touted their action plans against ISIS, May suggested that what they were actually doing was playing right into the terrorists’ hands.

What is a ‘Netflix tax, ‘ anyway?

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) was hoping it could compel Netflix, with its over four million Canadian subscribers, to pay into the Canadian Media Fund, just like cable and satellite providers do.

However, a long campaign season could benefit the well-funded Conservative Party.

“We think that Canadians are paying their fair share of taxes”. The government also sought input into whether it should enforce mandatory collection. In a series of provincial governments since the beginning of the 1990s, including Bob Rae’s in Ontario, Roy Romanow’s in Saskatchewan and Gary Dewar’s in Manitoba, the NDP has confronted the working class head on by imposing devastating austerity measures to eliminate budget deficits and attack workers’ living standards. But on Thursday, the province disavowed the notion.

“Our goal is to transition to greater energy efficiency and to greater reliance on renewables, but in the meantime obviously we still have fossil fuels that we’re relying on to a large extent”, Nash said.

“It is irresponsible of the Harper Conservatives to intentionally mislead the public on this”.

His remarks may not be sufficient to bring the Liberals into closer contention with the NDP, but they certainly didn’t hurt his campaign.

Acknowledging the economy’s weakness, and sparring over what should or shouldn’t be done about it, probably served Mr. Harper better than blindly denying it. Green Leader Elizabeth May rightly chided him for initially soft-pedalling the 2008 recession.