Harper to deliver economic message to Ont.'s ailing manufacturing sector

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will remind Canadians that Canada's economy is faring far better than those of other countries in his first major speech on the recession, says a spokesperson from the Prime Minister's Office.

The luncheon speech, which will be delivered in Brampton, Ont., to the Brampton and Mississauga boards of trade, will cast Canada as a comparative bright light in a world beset by economic troubles, officials said.

Officials said the location was chosen because southern Ontario's manufacturing sector has been particularly hard-hit by the recession.

The public address marks the first major statement that Harper will make on the recession and comes after some Conservative MPs complained the prime minister had not been visible enough to Canadians who are worried about the economic future.

Harper has reportedly written the full 3,000-word address himself and is expected to use visual aids to illustrate his arguments.

The speech will argue that smart government decisions on banks and tax cuts have helped soften the economic impact on Canadians, the PMO said.

"It is a positive message," said Harper spokesman Kory Teneycke. "The global economy is suffering what may be the worst combination of bad news since the 1930s, yet Canada has, in relative terms, been immune from some of the worst aspects of this. And those elements of our economy that are being hit, are being hit to a lesser degree than other countries."

Harper has previously stated Canada entered the global recession later than most other countries and that its effect has not been as deeply felt.

The Canadian economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2008, with its gross domestic product shrinking at an annualized rate of 3.4 per cent, as reported by Statistics Canada last week.

But Harper has argued that things could be much worse.

"[Canadians] should also know the American economy contracted twice as quickly; the European economy twice as quickly; the Japanese economy four times as quickly," Harper told the House of Commons last week.

Harper's speech is expected to outline that Canada's economy declined 3.4 percentage points in December while the U.S. economy dropped 6.2 per cent, Europe's fell six per cent, Japan's 12.7 per cent and Mexico's 10 per cent.

The prime minister is also expected to highlight that although Canada's federal budget deficit is the largest the country has posted since the mid-1990s it is, per capita, roughly one-sixth as big as the projected deficit in the U.S.

"We are doing the best of the industrialized world right now," Teneycke said.

Harper has said passing the federal budget and getting its $3 billion in stimulus funds flowing quickly are part of the solution to Canada's economic woes.

With files from the Canadian Press