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FACTBOX-Key issues in Canadian election campaign
Sept 7 (Reuters) - Here are the issues that are likely to dominate the campaign for the Oct. 14 election that Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper called on Sunday.
CARBON TAX
Liberal Party has proposed carbon taxes to cut greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, and will use the money to cut income taxes and boost subsidies to the poor. Liberal leader Stephane Dion says the changes will improve Canada's competitive position, but the Conservatives say the current economic slowdown means it is not the right time for new taxes and say greenhouse emissions can be limited by regulation.
ECONOMY
Harper proposes no major new tax cuts or spending, saying a steady hand is needed in troubled times. He says tax cuts introduced over the past year are enough to guide Canada through the current slowdown. Dion wants the government to play a bigger role, particularly in providing help to struggling manufacturers.
LEADERSHIP
Dion, a bookish former professor, trails well behind Harper in opinion polls on who would make a better prime minister, and he is behind Jack Layton, the leader of the small, leftist New Democrats in some surveys. The Conservatives say he is a vacillating leader who is "not worth the risk." The Liberals, for their part, say Harper broke a promise not to tax income trusts and is violating the spirit of his fixed-election date law by triggering an election now. The Conservatives point to Harper's record in his 2 1/2 years in power as evidence of a needed steady hand.
OTHER ISSUES
The Conservatives say more needs to be done to put Canada's stamp on the Arctic and to crack down on crime. The Liberals propose to make Canada greener, fairer and more prosperous. The Bloc Quebecois, which campaigns only in Quebec, says the French-speaking province should separate from the rest of Canada, but separatism is very much on the back burner at present. The New Democrats propose higher spending on transit, health care, child care, the environment and education. (Reporting by Randall Palmer, editing by Jackie Frank)
