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LAVAL, Que. — Stephen Harper says he remains “very optimistic” about an economic turnaround in Canada and insists the sliding price of crude oil has caused only temporary ripples in some sectors of the economy.

“Look, these are temporary effects,” Harper said Monday as he began the first day of the Conservative election campaign in Quebec.

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“We all knew that with lower oil prices, lower resource prices, there were going to be some temporary effects in some sectors of the economy.”

Speaking in Laval, Que., Harper said Canada remains “head and shoulders” above its G7 partners in terms of long-term economic growth, including on the job front.

He also promised a re-elected Conservative government would spend $60 million a year on increased and extended tax credits for businesses that hire tradespeople.

Some sectors of the Canadian economy are still growing, Harper said, despite what he described as the outside factors that are to blame for the slowdown.