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OTTAWA — Federal party leaders engaged in heavy crossfire on the campaign trial Tuesday with clashing visions of how to balance the country’s books and grow the economy.

Daylight emerged between NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in their respective approaches to deficits and growth. Stephen Harper simply derided the two “other guys” as promoting destructive policies that would hurt the economy if they ever replaced him as prime minister.

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The focus on the economy intensified as the TSX/S&P composite index ended the session up 98.19 points at 13,339.76, after falling more than 420 points on Monday. The big drop was linked to declining growth in China.

Mulcair staked out clear ground when he said in Hamilton, Ont., that he wouldn’t need to run a deficit to finance his promises and would bring in a balanced budget next year.

“We’re of course going to finish the fiscal year on Mr. Harper’s watch — 2015-16 is his budget — but our first budget will be a balanced budget,” the NDP leader said.