PM delivers rosy economic report

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With his political future on the line, Stephen Harper is asking Canadians to buy his pitch that Ottawa's hefty stimulus package has made quick strides to pull the country out of recession.

Making his case in Canada's ravaged manufacturing heartland in southern Ontario, Mr. Harper said that his program has already set in motion 80 per cent of this year's stimulus spending and approved 3,000 projects.

"We are on the right course," Mr. Harper told a crowd of Tory supporters in Cambridge, Ont., as he released a rosy self-assessment of stimulus spending progress.

"The only thing that can get us off course now is needless political instability,"

But Mr. Harper's $46.6-billion stimulus program is still in its infancy, and a good portion of the money earmarked for short-term municipal projects has still not been spent because many projects wait to be announced and tenders for the work are let.

Mr. Harper's political rivals are closely monitoring his performance. The Official Opposition Liberals have threatened to vote to topple the minority Conservative government if yesterday's report card did not demonstrate significant progress in doling out stimulus spending.

The Tories' chief political opponent had not decided as of last night whether to use the report as an opportunity to bring down the government next week.

Full text of the economic action plan

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said he would read Mr. Harper's 234-page stimulus report card thoroughly before deciding whether to oppose it. NDP Leader Jack Layton and the Bloc Québécois's Gilles Duceppe said they would not support the government, a reaction that Mr. Ignatieff called thoughtless.

Mr. Harper's report, delivered at a slick, made-for-TV event, was backed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which welcomed recent efforts to speed disbursement of the stimulus.

Mr. Harper said the stimulus plan is already working to revive the economy, and he vowed to make "more improvements" to Employment Insurance this fall, but did not elaborate.

"Only 72 days into this new fiscal year, the unprecedented measures undertaken in our economic action plan are starting to show some results. The effects of the recession are beginning to ease," he said.

Mr. Harper added that Canadians submitting new EI claims are receiving their first cheques within 28 days on average.

Of the $29-billion in stimulus spending earmarked for this fiscal year, $11.5-billion is aid for the auto sector, while $2.7-billion is to help the unemployed. Another $3-billion has gone to reducing taxes, while $9.8-billion is being spent on infrastructure programs, including home renovations.

One of the government's centrepiece programs, which will dole out $2-billion to rebuild infrastructure in Canada's cities and towns this year, has so far committed $1.1-billion to projects. However, almost $1-billion of that - about 1,200 projects - was announced only last week, for Ontario projects.

Nonetheless, one municipal leader welcomed the recent announcements.

"We've seen a lot of progress in the last week," said Berry Vrbonovic, a city councillor in Kitchener and second vice-president of the FCM.

He said his community recently received approvals for work on a city maintenance shop and an arts centre.

Others were less complimentary.

"There's frustration right across this country that the stimulus money has not flowed down faster," said Carroll Publicover, mayor of Bridgewater, N.S., citing conversations at the recent FCM meeting in Whistler, B.C.

Mr. Ignatieff said the other opposition parties are making rash judgments in rejecting Mr. Harper's report card outright.

"The NDP and the Bloc are making their decisions before even reading a document that is 200-odd pages. I think Canadians deserve better than that," he said.

A source close to Mr. Ignatieff said he believes that the Liberal leader does not want an election. But he did not rule out the possibility that the Liberals would move a non-confidence motion in the expectation that other opposition parties would keep the government afloat.

However, Mr. Layton said he opposes the government's approach.

"We've always opposed the direction of the Harper government. We won't change our approach now."

The government said that when its two-year $46-billion stimulus plan is combined with provincial and territorial spending efforts, the overall $80-billion package is proportionally "as large or larger" than that of any other country in the Group of Seven.

With reports from Les Perreaux and Oliver Moore