Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, whose campaign gained some momentum this week, suddenly faced questions about his abilities last night after a question about the economic crisis had to be repeated to him three times in a laborious television interview.
Mr. Dion's supporters blamed the incident on his hearing problem and accused the Tories of “shamelessly trying to embarrass” the Liberal Leader.
Sitting for a taped interview with Steve Murphy, the anchor for CTV Halifax, Mr. Dion had been asked: “If you were prime minister now, what would you have done about the economy and this crisis that Mr. Harper hasn't done?”
“If I had been prime minister two-and-a-half years ago?” Mr. Dion replied.
Mr. Dion started talking about his 30-day action plan to tackle the crisis but had trouble enunciating and asked to start again. “I've been slow listening to your question.”
Mr. Murphy repeated the question. Mr. Dion asked: “If I was prime minister starting when? Today?”
At one point a Liberal aide came in to explain the question.
On the third try, Mr. Dion began explaining what he would do once elected, such as calling a prime minister's conference and investing in infrastructures and manufacturing.
The Liberals asked the network not to air the portion in which Mr. Dion appears confused, but CTV felt it was their responsibility to show it. That segment is already posted on YouTube.
The Tories delayed their flight so their leader could watch the tape and comment on it. Stephen Harper usually talks to the media only once a day, but last night he met journalists again.
“When you're running a trillion-and-a-half-dollar economy you don't get a chance to have do-overs, over and over again,” he said. “What this incident actually indicates very clearly is Mr. Dion and the Liberal Party really don't know what they would do on the economy.”
He said Mr. Dion can't blame his difficulties with English. “I don't think this is a question of language at all. The question was very clear. It was asked repeatedly.”
Mark Dunn, Mr. Dion's spokesman, accused the Tories of making fun of the Liberal Leader and his hearing issues.
He said that Mr. Dion has answered that question a number of times, but just didn't understand exactly what Mr. Murphy was asking.
Mr. Harper, who had been accused of standing pat as the economy faltered, had tried to steer the campaign debate back to Mr. Dion's carbon tax.
The Conservative Leader referred several times to the Liberal Leader as “Prime Minister Dion” in what appears to be an effort to make voters hesitate about voting Liberal.
Canadians should weigh their vote carefully over the Thanksgiving turkey this weekend, Mr. Harper said warned, saying that Mr. Dion's refusal to delay his carbon-tax pledge as the economic gloom deepens should rule out electing him.
“There will be two outcomes … there will either be prime minister Dion, who will tackle our economic problems by increasing spending that we can't afford and increasing taxes to pay for it. Or our government, which will keep spending under control and keep taxes going down,” he said.
As always, he neglected to mention that the Liberals also propose $15-billion in tax breaks for individual, corporations and low-income earners to rebate all the proceeds from the carbon tax back to Canadians.
Mr. Dion refused Thursday to delay his carbon-tax plan if he forms a government, after La Presse reported that his deputy leader, Michael Ignatieff, told its editorial board there could be changes to the scheme because of the difficult economic times.
Mr. Ignatieff tried to clarify his remarks in an interview. “A Liberal government needs to act according to the facts and economic data of the moment. But I am absolutely convinced that the Green Shift is the best way to solve the crisis,” he said.
By the end of the day, both Mr. Ignatieff and Liberal MP Bob Rae, who was reported by The Canadian Press to have made similar remarks, issued a statement saying they stood “in complete agreement” with their leader.
The Liberals' carbon tax has been a hard sell in the West and in Atlantic Canada, where, for example, Nova Scotia's Conservative Premier Rodney MacDonald has attacked the idea.
Mr. Dion barely mentioned the tax in recent speeches. Instead, the Liberals are bringing out former heavyweights to emphasize their team and take away from Mr. Dion's weaknesses as a leader.
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien is to give the introductory speech for Mr. Dion at a rally today in Brampton, Ont. His appearance comes after his former finance minister and successor, Paul Martin, introduced Mr. Dion at a Toronto luncheon speech Wednesday.
The Liberals' carbon tax is a worthy idea, says an editorial in today's edition of the magazine The Economist magazine, which chides Mr. Harper for his attacks on Mr. Dion's plan.
However, the magazine said the country's economy and banking system are strong – “in a sinking world, Canada is something of a cork” – and Mr. Harper doesn't deserve defeat at the hand of an alarmist opposition.
“In what is the first credit-crunch election in a big Western country, Mr. Harper's ejection would set a dispiriting precedent that panic plays better politically than prudence,” the The Economist editorial says.
The portion of that interview has already been put up on YouTube.
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