OTTAWA—Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is leaving the door open to working with an NDP minority in Parliament after Oct. 19 but says he would never support a Stephen Harper-led government.

With polls suggesting none of the three main parties is likely to win a majority of Commons seats, questions are mounting about post-election political deals to put one of the parties in power.

“Mr. Harper has demonstrated over the past 10 years that he has been unable to create the jobs and growth for Canadians that they need. I have spent my entire political career fighting against Mr. Harper’s narrow and meaner vision of what Canada can be and what the government should do,” Trudeau said Tuesday when asked about post-election scenarios.

“There are no circumstances in which I would support Stephen Harper to continue being prime minister of this country,” he told reporters.

Asked if the Liberals would back a minority NDP government, Trudeau suggested he is “confident” of a Liberal victory on Oct. 19. But he said, “One of the nice things about elections is that it is Canadians who get to decide who sits in their Parliament, and the Liberal party has always been open in minority situations to working with other members of the House to pass legislation that serves Canadians.”

Trudeau added, “Canada has had minority governments before. I don’t think it’s going to happen this time . . . (but) parliamentarians elected by Canadians to represent their communities, to serve their communities, have always been able to ensure Parliament functions, to greater or lesser degrees.”

The Liberals, however, are not interested in a formal coalition arrangement with the NDP and will not be discussing such an arrangement, Trudeau said.

Harper rejects the notion of coalition governments in the parliamentary system and maintains the party that wins the most seats in an election obtains a mandate to govern from the electorate even it doesn’t have a majority in the Commons.

In contrast, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has said his party is open to forming a coalition government with the Liberals.

Harper, asked if he would remain as prime minister for four years if the Conservatives win another majority, suggested he would. “If I’m elected, I intend to serve,” he told the media.

He said another Conservative government would adopt a goal of creating 1.3 million net new jobs by 2020 even though he said Canada’s economy is in fragile shape.

The new goal is a repeat of Canada’s record of creating 1.3 million net new jobs since the depths of the recession in 2009. Based on last year’s performance, when the economy churned up about 200,000 net new jobs, it might take a substantial uptick in economic growth in the next few years to reach that goal.

Trudeau called Harper’s goal “wildly optimistic.” NDP candidate Peggy Nash told CBC-TV the Conservative plan so lacked specifics it was like “a thought bubble in Stephen Harper’s head.”

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