TROIS-RIVIERES,Que. - Stephen Harper is a "fragile" and shaky leader who is incapable of making decisions that will protect the economy, says Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe.
Duceppe panned his Conservative rival's political platform, which was released Tuesday, as a product of desperate improvisation.
"He came in at the last minute because he wanted to have the attention of the media," Duceppe said as he campaigned in Trois-Rivieres, Que. "It's not a grand sense of responsibility showing such an attitude.
"Secondly, he said a lot of measures are still vague. For a prime minister coming at the last minute with not very concrete measures... it's a lack of leadership of course.
"And I think it's a lot of improvisation also. I describe someone like that as not solid, and someone who isn't solid is fragile."
Duceppe said the Tory proposals would do little to help people in the battered manufacturing and forestry sectors, especially older workers.
"I think he's just missing the boat. He talked about Noah's boat. They're still looking for it nowadays."
Duceppe was referring to Harper's comment in Toronto earlier in the day when he said now is not the time for Canadians to eschew his party.
"As the saying goes, it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark," Harper said. "Which is why when the rain came, Noah didn't need to panic and he didn't switch boats."
Earlier in the day, Duceppe asked the prime minister to consider a list of 14 proposals to counter the effects of the worrisome crisis.
The Bloc leader's proposed measures included refundable tax credits and interest-free loans to support the manufacturing sector and the forestry industry.
Duceppe also called for a plan to stimulate infrastructure, abolish tax benefits for big oil companies and re-establish cultural programs which were slashed by the Conservative government.
The Bloc leader insisted it was not a shopping list, but a necessary realignment of federal economic policy.
