HALIFAX - Premier Rodney MacDonald sharpened his attack Friday on Nova Scotia's New Democrats while portraying his Conservatives as the only party that can be trusted to lead the province in tough times.
In an address reminiscent of campaign-style stump speeches, MacDonald praised his party's record and told his fellow Tories they would be "tested."
"Make no mistake -- the biggest threat to our province's prosperity is the NDP," MacDonald told the opening of the party's annual general meeting at a Halifax hotel, likely the last one to be held before a provincial election expected this spring.
"That's because they spend more of their time making promises to everyone they can, never stopping to think if they can keep those promises."
MacDonald slammed the second-place New Democrats as risky, ineffective managers of taxpayers' dollars, saying the party hasn't come up with a single idea to boost the economy since the downturn began.
The premier claimed NDP promises made in the past couple of years would cost more than $2 billion -- a figure the New Democrats have dismissed as a "fantasy impression" of their plans.
The Liberals are no better, he said.
"Does anyone really believe a Liberal government could have matched our seven consecutive balanced budgets?" asked MacDonald, who stood in front of a large, blue screen emblazoned with the words "leadership, the economy, stability."
The minority Conservatives have yet to present their own economic stimulus package, but MacDonald said an infrastructure plan that would create jobs and improve roads would be announced in about 30 days.
The premier has said he'd prefer to avoid a deficit in one of Canada's most heavily indebted provinces, but admitted it could happen despite his government's best efforts.
On Friday, MacDonald presented himself as a raised-in-Nova Scotia family man who understands "the value of a dollar." At the beginning of the meeting, a video featuring members of MacDonald's family, a former teacher and a hockey teammate praised the premier as a hard-working leader.
MacDonald also touted his party's record, reminding the crowd of his government's recent work to protect the province's offshore resources.
But he also delved into history, recalling the achievements of popular Tory premiers John Hamm, who was in attendance, and Robert Stanfield.
MacDonald said he'll continue to "fight against opposition parties who will turn back the clock on all the hard-earned gains" the Conservatives have made since coming into power a decade ago.
The chances of a provincial election looked even more likely this week as the Tories launched an attack campaign on the New Democrats that's called "Risky NDP."
The campaign includes a 67-page booklet and matching website detailing costly promises made by the NDP on everything from roads to health care.
"I think it was fair for us to put forward the document," MacDonald told reporters following his address.
"What we simply did over the past number of months was to do the research, to use the quotes from the official Opposition in their words, not our words, and to do our best, of course, to tally up those numbers based on that information."
The Conservatives, who hold 22 seats in the 52-seat legislature, have governed as a minority for the past three years. The NDP has 20 seats, and the Liberals nine. There is one Independent member of the legislature.
The New Democrats have had a strong hold on voters in the Halifax area in recent years. In the past couple of elections, the party has also managed to make inroads in rural parts of the province that have traditionally voted for the Tories.
