Conservatives, NDP to release platforms on same day
The Conservatives and NDP will unveil their election platforms today, offering their competing visions to Canadian voters with less than two weeks to go in the federal election campaign.
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CBC News has learned the Conservative platform is coming this late in part because the party was waiting for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations to conclude.
Representatives from Canada and 11 other countries reached the deal to create the largest-ever regional trading bloc four days ago in Atlanta.
Trade Minister Ed Fast told members of the Vancouver Board of Trade yesterday his officials estimate the TPP will bring in $3.5 billion into the economy once it's ratified.
The accord is expected to take several years to complete.
Throughout the campaign, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has focused heavily on what he calls his party's "low tax, balanced budget" plan to keep the economy on track.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has promised to balance the federal budget in the first year of a New Democratic mandate while investing billions in infrastructure.
The Liberals were the first major party to unveil their platform earlier this week. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has said a Liberal government would run three consecutive deficits of up to $10 billion to invest in infrastructure projects.
