Harper campaigns in Halifax
Stephen Harper came to Halifax Thursday morning, the first campaign swing into Atlantic Canada by any of the federal leaders.
The Conservative party leader used the stop to voice support for the Muskrat Falls hydro development in Labrador.
"This is a very important project, not just for Newfoundland and Labrador, for Nova Scotia and the entire region, " he said. "It's a big chance to shift an entire region of the country towards greener energy and away from large scale greenhouse gas emissions."
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have asked Ottawa for a $375 million loan guarantee to build a sub-sea cable to bring electricity into Nova Scotia.
Harper fell short of making any firm commitment—he said he would have more to say when he visits Newfoundland later Thursday.
Harper defended a number of Conservative patronage appointments to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency such as ACOA and Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation—where several members of his party were hired as senior public servants, saying that following open and competitive processes, the jobs went to the best candidates.
He refused to be drawn into whether a Conservative government would put money into a new convention centre in downtown Halifax.
"That project has been submitted ... I'm not in a position during the campaign to make that kind of decision," Harper told CBC News Thursday.
