Canada Liberals Propose C$8.23 Bln of Programs Over 2 Yrs

Ignatieff contrasted his plans for new social spending with Harper’s business tax reductions and narrowly based personal tax cuts. Harper, who today pledged to double a fitness tax credit for children and extend it to adults, warned that even if Ignatieff wins fewer seats straightway month he will undermine a fragile economic recovery by seeking to form a "reckless" coalition government with the socialist New Democratic party and with Quebec’s separatist Bloc Quebecois.

Harper called the election afterwards his government’s March 22 budget was rejected by all opposition parties, who at the time ousted the Conservatives in a non-confidence vote. Polls suggest the Conservatives would win the most seats in the election, though it isn’t clear if they would win a majority of seats in the House of Commons. The Conservatives were supported by 40.7 percent of decided voters, followed by 29.4 percent who supported the Liberals, according to a CTV/Globe/Nanos election survey published today and taken over the three previous days. The telephone survey of 1,200 people has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.