Article content

Call it the new battle of Ontario.

Preaching his message of change, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau accused Stephen Harper’s Conservatives of all but ignoring Canada’s most populous province in a campaign-style speech in Ottawa’s Little Italy on Monday.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Justin Trudeau accuses Conservatives of ignoring Ontario as battle for largest province heats up Back to video

“It’s 2015. It’s an election year. Now election years are the time when, traditionally, Mr. Harper’s Conservatives suddenly locate Ontario on a map of Canada,” Trudeau told Liberal party faithful at Sala San Marco Banquet Hall on Preston Street.

He added that “Ontarians are tired of a government in Ottawa that ignores their leaders, ignores their economy, and then shows up at election time like none of it ever happened.”

The campaign-style address came one day after Harper made his own appearance in Orléans, and after a week in which the two federal leaders have crossed the province trying to bolster support.

‘Election years are the time when, traditionally, Mr. Harper’s Conservatives suddenly locate Ontario on a map’

In a lunchtime speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa on Tuesday, NDP leader Tom Mulcair laid out another plank in his party’s platform, promising tax breaks for small businesses that would save companies an estimated $1.24 billion – and cost the federal treasury the same amount.