R isks, threats and dangers dominate Stephen Harper's campaign rhetoric. His Canada is a country whose citizens worry about teenage killers; oil-hungry foreigners prowling their Arctic waters; terrorists lurking in their cities; and economic shock waves rolling toward them.

There is a grain of truth in these images. Canadians are bracing for a recession. A Russian mini-submarine did launch a mission to claim the North Pole this summer. The rate of violent youth crime went up slightly in 2006. And no country is immune to terrorism.

But there is also a great deal of exaggeration.

Very few Canadians will ever come in contact with a homicidal minor; 85 young people were accused of murder in 2006 (the latest year for which statistics are available). Homicide constitutes 0.05 per cent of youth crime. Overall youth crime has been declining steadily for two decades.

Most of the "terrorist conspiracies" detected in Canada have looked pretty amateurish. The first suspect convicted under Canada's anti-terrorism law in a Brampton court yesterday was too inept to pose much of a threat. This is not to say a suicide bombing, hijacking or anthrax attack couldn't happen here. But cowering has never been the Canadian way.

Undersea military activity isn't what scares most northerners. Their biggest concern is the rapid melting of the polar ice cap. Their homes, roads and communities, built on permafrost, are buckling and sagging. The entire Arctic ecosystem, and the life it supports, is in danger.

There is also a huge blind spot in the Conservative leader's vision.

Harper fails to see Canadians as a people who pull together in hard times. He is oblivious to the work millions of public-spirited citizens are doing in their communities to solve problems and create opportunities.

This is reflected in his approach to everything from crime to economic policy.

Those unregenerate 14-year-old criminals he proposes to lock up for a decade were troubled kids when he came to power. Their teachers had spotted the danger signals. So had welfare caseworkers, community activists and beat cops. They had tried to help, but were hampered by too few resources and too little political support.

Harper acknowledged this week that broken families and deprived neighbourhoods can contribute to "delinquent behaviour." But he insisted that coddling young offenders doesn't work. Harsh discipline does.

That might make anxious voters feel better. But it won't divert preteens from heading down the same path. And it won't provide much real protection; today's 14-year-old prison inmates will be out on parole at 24.

The "economic certainty" Harper offers voters is merely a leaner version of what exists now.

He is not calling on Canadians to respond to be creative and caring. He is telling them to hunker down.

He is not tackling the structural problems that constrain Canada's growth; its aging infrastructure, overreliance on fossil fuels and shrinking manufacturing base. He says this is no time for "risky experiments."

He is not willing to use the power of the state as a buffer against market forces. All he is pledging to do is keep the budget balanced, taxes low and spending in check.

Some might describe that as "a steady hand on the wheel." Others would call it a damper on the Canadian spirit.

In a tactical sense, Harper's strategy is shrewd. Fear is a powerful motivator. It fits the mood of the times. It is much easier to elicit than hope.

It also lets an incumbent campaign with no virtually no platform. All Harper has to do is shoot down every idea his opponents put forward, a task he clearly relishes.

More than half of the 55 "news releases" on his campaign website denigrate the Liberals ("not worth the risk"), the Bloc Québécois ("never delivers concrete results") and the New Democrats ("out of touch with the concerns of working families").

It is a shame none of the other national party leaders has succeeded in tapping into the nation's better instincts.

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It is a double shame Canadians are allowing Harper to set the bar so low.

Carol Goar 's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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