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Stephen Harper was in Toronto Thursday talking security, in this case re-announced budget measures to beef up resources for CSIS, the spy agency, and improve biometric testing at airports.

We are going to be hearing a lot more about the threats to our civilization from the Conservatives because there is less to boast about on their other supposed areas of strength.

The budget was sub-titled: “Strong leadership – a balanced budget, low tax plan for jobs, growth and security.”

On taxes, they have, for now, been outbid by the Liberals, whose newest ad claims the average middle class family of four will receive bigger tax breaks under their plan. That may prove too complicated to sell to people, who at least know what they’re getting from the Tories. But at this point, the party of low taxes is not offering the lowest tax breaks to Canadian voters.

The recent jobs record has been patchy at best. The country lost 19,700 jobs in April, as the unemployment rate rose to 6.8 per cent. May’s numbers are due out Friday, and while a net addition of 10,000 jobs is the median expectation of economists polled by Bloomberg, the rate is likely to remain unchanged.

On growth, there is none. Or at least, there wasn’t in the first three months of the year, which saw the economy shrink for the first quarter since 2011.