Economy bouncing back, Trudeau says as new StatCan figures show recent contraction

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says the domestic economy is bouncing back “extremely strongly” from COVID-19 even as new figures show a contraction in activity just ahead of the election call.

Statistics Canada is reporting that the economy contracted at an annualized rate of 1.1 per cent between April and June, and estimates another drop in real gross domestic product in July.

Speaking in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Trudeau says there are pockets of the economy that remain weak, pointing to arts and culture as an example.

He also argues that Conservative plans for child care, among other proposals, would hurt the pace of the economic recovery.

Trudeau’s comments come as a new poll suggests the Conservatives and NDP have momentum heading into the second half of the federal election campaign, while the Liberals are bleeding support.

Thirty-four per cent of decided voters who took part in the Leger survey said they support Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives _ ahead of the Liberals and up four percentage points since Aug. 16, when the campaign got underway.

Support for Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats is also up four points, to 24 per cent.

Support for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, meanwhile, is down five points to 30 per cent, while Green party support is down three points to two per cent.

In Quebec, support for the Bloc Quebecois stands at 29 per cent, behind the Liberals at 33 per cent.

The online poll of 2,005 Canadians, conducted Aug. 27 to 30 in collaboration with The Canadian Press, cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.