OTTAWA — A look at key developments Friday on the campaign trail:
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was asked Friday to clarify a controversial comment from Thursday night’s debate. The Liberal and NDP leaders slammed Harper’s use of the term “old-stock Canadians” as divisive. On Friday he expanded on his position on refugee health care, which he said is “supported by Canadians, who themselves are immigrants and also supported by the rest of us, by Canadians who have been the descendants of immigrants for one or more generations.” The government sought to scrap a program that covered health-care costs for people awaiting decisions on refugee claims, sharply curtailing coverage and allocating it based on where the claimants were from.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is not saying how he would pay for his big-ticket promises if crude prices do not improve. The NDP’s costing is based on oil at $67 a barrel, but crude continues to sit around $47 a barrel. Mulcair has spent this week making multibillion-dollar health-care commitments. On Friday he promised $2.6 billion for universal prescription drug coverage over for four years with the goal of achieving universal access.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said if his party forms government he would end several court cases being pursued by the current federal government. He said he would not appeal a recent decision to end a ban on wearing face veils at citizenship ceremonies. His comments came in response to the government’s announcement it will seek a stay of a recent Federal Court of Appeal decision allowing the veil during the oath-taking ceremony, while it seeks leave to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Conservatives argue most Canadians agree that people wanting to become citizens should show their face during citizenship ceremonies.
Harper had to do some stickhandling Friday as he was asked about an evening event where he was to appear with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. As he took media questions, one reporter noted Gretzky — born and raised in Ontario but for years a resident of the United States — would be unable to vote for Harper because of rules barring long-term Canadian expats from casting a ballot. Harper said Canadian elections should be decided by Canadian residents, and he has never heard Gretzky “challenge that particular notion.”
