Today's buzz: It's the economy, Stephen

Kim Covert
Canwest News Service

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, seen here with his wife Laureen in Ottawa October 6, may be doing anxious voters a disservice by not releasing his party's platform. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The buzz:

On a day when at one point the TSX fell more than 1,200 points during trading (it closed down 573 points), and in the fallout of a Scotia Capital report that said Canada is heading into a recession, Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged the global economic turmoil Monday. "Look, we're not an island," he said, adding government officials are meeting with their G7 counterparts to see if a "co-ordinated" response is in order.     

But then he added that Canada's fundamentals are sound.     

"We cannot pretend and we're not pretending that we will escape effects of world developments, but what we can do is make sure that we're doing the proper things in Canada to make sure our banking system is stable - we'd done that, we're doing that - to make sure our finances are in good position and that we can invest in things that can cause long run job creation."

The background:     

The way political branding works, each of the major parties is seen to have mastery in one area: for the Liberals it's national unity; for the NDP it's labour. And the Conservatives are seen as the best stewards of the economy. Two weeks ago, Ipsos Reid CEO Darrell Bricker, responding to a poll that saw the Conservative star rising as the U.S. economy tanked, said the Conservatives are "given a pass" when it comes to the economy, especially if there's no recent evidence of bad budgeting.

But more recent polls have shown support for the Conservatives falling as the economic turmoil spreads. So why wouldn't the party be ahead when it appears that its perceived strengths will be the ones needed to see Canada through the crisis?

The explanation:     

It could be that Harper's relaxed attitude on the economy is working against him. In the last week of the campaign, he has yet to present his party's platform. His "don't worry" stance may no longer be soothing to Canadians who are becoming increasingly worried about their investments, their savings, their mortgages.     

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion appears to have been speaking for the rest of the country when he said Monday, "For the last weeks we told him that he needs to wake up and to say to Canadians that indeed, we have tough times and indeed the government will help you."     

While he may believe that the economy's fundamentals are strong, Harper doesn't seem to be winning any brownie points by saying so.