Pubdate: Thu, 15 Oct 2015
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Stephanie Levitz
Page: A3

FACTS, NOT FEAR, FUEL ATTACKS ON THE LIBERALS, HARPER SAYS

His opponents call it fear mongering, but Stephen Harper says what 
he's trying to do in drawing attention to his interpretation of the 
Liberals' election platform is present Canadians with the facts.

 From a series of ads in the ethnic media saying Justin Trudeau will 
put brothels in neighbourhoods to a repeated statement they'd cancel 
pension-income-splitting for seniors, the Conservatives have come 
under fire from their opponents this week from engaging in stunts 
designed to detract from their own record.

Both the ads and Wednesday's event, highlighting the potential impact 
of a Liberal government on the pocketbooks of a senior couple, are 
what Canadians need to know about what's at stake come Monday, Harper 
said at a campaign event in Brantford, Ont.

"The other guys will claim it's fear when all we are trying to do is 
draw attention to facts, facts that they are actually not willing to 
talk about. You know, they run a campaign on three or four slogans. I 
think it's time that Canadians, as we approach election day, look at 
the platforms," Harper said.

The Liberals accuse the Conservatives of playing with those facts. 
Nowhere in their platform is there a pledge to create brothels, nor 
as Harper claimed Wednesday will the Liberals definitely cancel 
pension-income-splitting for seniors.

The Conservatives base the brothel assertion on the fact the Liberals 
voted against the Conservatives' law that criminalizes the buying of 
sex, a law passed in response to a Supreme Court ruling that prior 
anti-prostitution laws violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Conservatives say that because doing nothing in response to that 
ruling would have legalized prostitution, and because Trudeau did not 
propose a law of his own, he de facto supports legalizing prostitution.

On pension-income-splitting, Trudeau has repeatedly said that's not 
on the table amid all the other potential repeals a Liberal 
government may do of previous Conservative policies.

The Conservatives argue that statement is based in part on the 
Liberals' 2007 vote against pension-income-splitting, which was a 
policy buried in an omnibus budget bill the Liberals voted down, and 
that they're going to have to find the money for their promises from somewhere.

"Stephen Harper is desperate to change the channel from his 10 failed 
years," the Liberal campaign said in a statement.

"It's the only reason he's playing the politics of fear and spreading 
falsehoods about the Liberal plan."

Among the other issues Harper is pushing is that the Liberals would 
allow marijuana to be sold in corner stores; while that party has 
said it wants to legalize the drug, the specifics have not been determined.

The Conservatives are vehemently opposed to legalizing marijuana, so 
some eyebrows were raised Wednesday when Doug Ford, the former 
Toronto city councillor who has admitted smoking marijuana, let it be 
known he was going to be organizing a rally for Harper later this week.

It follows comments from Ford at an event in west-end Toronto that he 
could easily rally thousands of people for Harper. Ford's brother Rob 
admitted to smoking crack cocaine while he served as Toronto's mayor.

Harper didn't address the seeming irony of his campaign getting 
support from two admitted drug users.

"I think our position on these issues is very well-known and the 
support we've had from those individuals for our party is 
long-standing," he said.

At least one attendee at the event wasn't fazed by the Conservative 
association with the Fords, noting they'd both come clean about their 
drug use and what mattered was a politician's fiscal approach.

"I don't care if anyone has sex with a sheep, as long as you work for 
the people and increase the livelihood of the people you represent," 
said a man who only gave his first name as Richard.

Harper was campaigning in the heart of southwestern Ontario, where 
the Conservatives are still considered front-runners in some of the 
more rural ridings despite a concerted push by the NDP and the Liberals.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom