MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer blamed rising protectionism around the world — including the approach of the Trump administration — for creating the "troubling signs" faced by the Canadian and global economies.

Scheer insisted that as prime minister he would help Canada deal with any global downturn by cutting taxes, working to attract more investment and balancing the federal books.

He made the comments Tuesday as he brought his tour through suburban Toronto for the seventh time since the start of the election campaign.

Scheer argued that several years of budgetary shortfalls posted by the Trudeau government have put Canada in a difficult spot to deal with an economic downturn.

"Obviously, there are a lot of troubling signs around the world. Any time you see a streak of protectionism go through the world, as we saw with the United States and other countries as well, that always has a negative impact on global growth," Scheer told reporters in the Toronto suburb of Markham.

"There are certainly troubling signs on the horizon, which is once again a reason for Canadians to be very concerned about the massive deficits that Justin Trudeau has been running."

The global economy has been slowing down, in large part due to the U.S.-China trade war.

Shortfalls in recent years, Scheer added, have taken away the flexibility for Canada to react in the event of a downturn.

The Liberals won the 2015 election on a platform to run deficits as a way to lift the economy by funding major infrastructure investments and tax reductions.

However, they broke their promises to return Canada to balanced budgets by the end of their mandate and to run annual deficits of no more than $10 billion. Their shortfalls ultimately swelled to almost double that size.