Harper kicks off tour of Canada’s North with sharply partisan attacks

WHITEHORSE – Prime Minister Stephen Harper has kicked off his tour of Canada’s North with an attack on both opposition parties.

In a highly partisan speech Sunday in Whitehorse, Harper portrayed his Conservatives as champions of the Arctic, while accusing the NDP and Liberals of dangerous ideas and vacuous thinking.

He accused the opposition of having “tax-and-spend proposals so extreme they would make the worst European budget look solid in comparison.”

The military, usually a prominent plank in Harper’s efforts to galvanize Conservatives, merited only a passing reference.

The speech appeared designed to shore up support for a party that has been deeply shaken by the escalating expense scandal currently plaguing the Senate.

Harper — who warned of economic calamity should the Conservatives be defeated in 2015 — will hop-scotch across the North through the week, ending in northern Quebec.