Politics

Canada election 2015: Where the leaders are Wednesday

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau are campaigning in a vote-rich Ontario. Green party Leader Elizabeth May is in Victoria, B.C. and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe is in Baie-Comeau, Que.

Stephen Harper, Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau all set sights on Ontario today

The main federal party leaders, from left, Gilles Duceppe, Stephen Harper, Elizabeth May, Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau. (Reuters/Canadian Press)

Turbulence in world financial markets is expected to keep the economy front and centre on the federal campaign trail today as the main party leaders try to position themselves as the best guardians of the Canadian economy.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau of the Liberals will campaign in Ontario, a vote-rich province considered a key to forming the next government. 

Harper's lone campaign stop of the day will be in the rural community of Lancaster in eastern Ontario to visit a riding the Conservatives won by a landslide in 2011. 

Harper is likely to maintain focus on an economic strategy that includes a balanced budget, low taxes and affordable investments as a prudent path to take amid global economic turmoil.

To the relief of the Harper camp, the prime minister is likely to face fewer questions about the trial of Sen. Mike Duffy for the rest of the campaign. The judge-only trial was adjourned Tuesday and is scheduled to resume Nov. 18, well after Canadians go to the polls on Oct. 19.

Mulcair will bring his message that the NDP can be strong stewards of the economy to a high-tech consulting company in London, Ont., and then to a coffee shop in Stratford. Conservatives won three of the four London ridings in 2011 and the NDP took the other.

Trudeau will also venture into Conservative territory as he visits an educational supply company in Newmarket, just north of Toronto.

The Liberal leader, who has been travelling with former prime minister Paul Martin in an attempt to bolster his economic
credentials, took aim Tuesday at an NDP pledge not to run a deficit while raising the spectre of further budget cuts. Trudeau told a rally in Brampton, Ont., that Mulcair has effectively signed on to Harper's economic policy.

Green party Leader Elizabeth May will attend an early evening picnic in Victoria while Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe spends the day meeting party faithful and students in Baie-Comeau, Que.

Details list of the leaders' itineraries Wednesday

(Times are local)

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper​

Lancaster, Ont.: Campaign stop at Munro Agromart 9:30 a.m.

————

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair

London, Ont.: Campaign stop at Sciencetech Inc. at 9:10 a.m.

Stratford, Ont.: Photo opportunity at Revel Caffe Coffee Shop at 12:30 p.m.

————

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau:

Newmarket, Ont.: Announcement and media availability at Spectrum Educational Supplies Ltd. at 8:30 a.m.

————

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

Victoria: Attending Picnic at the Gardens at the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific at 5 p.m.

————

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe

Baie-Comeau, Que.: Lunch with supporters at Restaurant les Trois Barils at 11:45 a.m., followed by meeting with students at Cegep de Baie-Comeau at 1:10 p.m., followed by news conference at a riding office on the challenges faced on Quebec's North Shore at 3 p.m.

View a map of the leaders' movements so far, including in the months leading up to the campaign.

With files from CBC News