SASKATOON—Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is promising a new deal for First Nations education that would include $2.6 billion in new funding.

Trudeau is also pledging to scrap the governing Conservatives’ stalled First Nations education act and re-engage on the 2005 Kelowna Accord as part of a broad multilateral discussion with indigenous peoples on ways to improve their quality of life.

“First Nation students are falling behind in reading, writing and numeracy, and less than half of all First Nations students on reserves graduate from high school,” Trudeau told supporters at a downtown Saskatoon hotel.

“Canadians know that that’s just not right.”

Trudeau has spent the last two days campaigning in Saskatchewan, hoping to boost the party’s fortunes there; voters in the province elected only one Liberal MP in the 2011 election.

The Liberals have high hopes for the northern Saskatchewan seat of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, an area with a large aboriginal population that they last won in 2006.

The party’s candidate, former Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations top chief Lawrence Joseph, came within 800 votes of beating Conservative incumbent Rob Clarke when Joseph ran for the New Democrats in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Conservative Leader Stephen Harper used a campaign stop in Edmonton to tout his government’s record of cutting taxes and bringing in tax breaks.

He said tax-free savings accounts have become a popular way to shelter money from the tax man, but are in danger from Mulcair and Trudeau, who he said would do away with them to pay for “runaway spending.” As for the troubling world economic news, Harper said this is no time to change policies. The prime minister was also greeted by angry postal workers protesting cuts at Canada Post and the end of home mail delivery.

Mulcair stepped off the campaign track, but pledged a big economic announcement for Friday.

Green Leader Elizabeth May continued to campaign in short forays from her home riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands. She, too, promised a major announcement Friday, this one on help for veterans.

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