I hear by the advertisements on radio and television that Stephen Harper has stopped rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with his “don’t worry, be happy, everything’s rosy economically in Canada” attitude and acknowledged that perhaps, with the rest of the world struggling with economic meltdown, Canadians should have some concerns about the economy.

How have Mr. Harper and his Conservatives addressed Canadian’s concerns about the economy and the future? Have Mr. Harper and his Conservative Party laid out their plans and policies for dealing with what is happening around the world economically? No.

Mr. Harper, rather than say what his plans (if any) are for guiding Canada through this period of economical turmoil are, has continued his practice of scare tactics about why Canadians should not vote for his opponents as opposed to telling Canadians why they should vote Conservative.

This approach leaves one to conclude that the economy is one more area that Mr. Harper and his Conservatives have no vision and thus no plans for dealing with economic challenges.

What did Mr. Harper and his Conservatives, beneficiaries of a booming economy, accomplish economically during their period in office?

They oversaw the increased transfer of wealth from most Canadians to the wealthiest 10% of Canadians, making the rich richer and increasing the economic unfairness or lack of balance in the economy.

Despite their claims to have run what Mr. Harper calls “surpluses”, when you factor in the cost of the war in Afghanistan those surpluses disappear. How can Mr. Harper claim to be fiscally responsible when he chose to ignore the billions of dollars spent on Afghanistan in reporting on the state of the Canadian economy? It was totally irresponsible to be cutting taxes and claiming surpluses without taking the billions being spent on Afghanistan into their calculations.

Mr. Harper and his Conservatives policies resulted in significant increases in homelessness, poverty and working poor; managing to bring about these increases during a time of economic boom. The mind boggles at the thought of how much more homelessness, poverty and working poor, how much more misery Mr. Harper and his Conservatives can cause in a faltering economy.

Sorry Mr. Harper, but considering your performance on the economy over your term in office and in light of the faltering Canadian and worldwide economy, there is no scarier economic prospect than you in charge of the economy and Canada’s economic future in this time of challenge.