The NDP points to the Alberta budget to support Thomas Mulcair’s position that the high dollar has hurt the manufacturing sector. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has concerns, but Mr. Mulcair rejects the idea of a regional fight.
The NDP points to the Alberta budget to support Thomas Mulcair’s position that the high dollar has hurt the manufacturing sector. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has concerns, but Mr. Mulcair rejects the idea of a regional fight.
“What I’ve said since the beginning is I didn’t want to deal with anybody else but Stephen Harper,” Mulcair said. “I’ll work with all the provinces. – If they want to turn this into a provincial federal fight with me, I’ll set the record straight every time, saying I’m not looking in any way to have the debate with them. I want to work with them. My debate is with Stephen Harper.”
The federal official Opposition leader also rejected the notion he is pitting the eastern part of the country against the West, saying that is “how some of my political adversaries are trying to portray it. “Some people were trying to change the message, setting up an east-west straw man, saying that’s what it was about,” he said. “But that’s not the case. Since the beginning, this has been about sustainable development. Some people have tried to turn that into, ‘Oh, they’re attacking us personally.’ “Having seen that sort of exercise before in my home province, I’m immune to it. I’ll keep talking over it and I’ll keep setting the record straight, as I’m doing now, and make it very clear that we want an energy future that is sustainable, we want an economic future that’s sustainable.”
Meanwhile, Stephen Gordon looks at who benefits from oil sands development.