Military procurement, the niqab controversy, more candidate gaffes and a lively French-language debate dominated headlines during the eighth week of the campaign. Here鈥檚 a look back at the highlights:
Monday
Back on the campaign trail, focus shifted to military procurement as Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau the controversial planned purchase of F-35 fighter jets for cheaper alternatives, a cancellation that both the Conservatives and NDP said would harm the Canadian aerospace industry.
The Liberal promise came as documents revealed that the Harper government鈥檚 plan to overhaul the Royal Canadian Navy with a multi-billion dollar procurement to replace frigates and destroyers may be in trouble.
And in an interview with CTV Atlantic鈥檚 Steve Murphy, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was pressed on the feasibility of his promise to create one million .
Tuesday
Nanos Research鈥檚 daily tracking for CTV and The Globe and Mail had the three major parties of each other nationally.
At a campaign stop in Montreal, Justin Trudeau said 鈥渦nder no circumstances鈥� would the Liberals prop up a Conservative minority government should the Tories receive a small plurality of seats.
Harper was forced to defend a to match Terry Fox Foundation donations after Conservatives were accused of politicizing one of Canada鈥檚 most respected icons. Harper said the Fox foundation itself put forward the ideas on cancer research funding announced by outgoing Conservative MP James Moore over the weekend. However, a Terry Fox Foundation spokesperson said a letter requesting greater financial support for cancer research was sent to leaders of five political parties in Canada.
Harper said he would aim to create by 2020, while Mulcair said, if elected, his party would offer five more weeks of parental leave for single and two-parent families, as part of a proposal to improve employment insurance benefits.
Wednesday
Following Trudeau鈥檚 lead, Mulcair also shot down the possibility of propping up a Conservative minority government, saying 鈥渢here isn鈥檛 a snowball鈥檚 chance in hell,鈥� the NDP would support Harper should he regain power with a slim margin of seats.
Pitting him squarely against Harper, Mulcair also said during a campaign stop that he would withdraw the government鈥檚 appeal to the Supreme Court on the issue of banning niqabs during citizenship ceremonies.
Candidate gaffes were back in the spotlight, after an NDP candidate and a Conservative candidate came under fire for controversial statements. Alex Johnstone, who is running for the NDP in an Ontario riding apologized for an old Facebook comment that compared the electrified posts at Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau to phallic symbols.
She then found herself in more hot water when she admitted she .
And, Conservative candidate Joe Daniel, who is seeking re-election in a Toronto riding, was caught on video alluding to a Muslim 鈥渁genda鈥� to change Europe with refugees.
Thursday
Five party leaders 鈥� including the Bloc Quebecois鈥� Gilles Duceppe 鈥� duked it out for Quebecers鈥� support in a that quickly turned heated as the issue of niqabs became front and centre.
During one, Harper dug in his heels, saying 鈥淣ever will I say to my daughter that a woman has to cover her face because she is a woman.鈥� Mulcair in turn accused the Conservative leader of playing a 鈥渄angerous鈥� political game.
The leaders also debated pipelines, Canada鈥檚 military missions in Syria and Iraq, and Quebec sovereignty.
Friday
Fresh off the French-language debate, Harper promised a , while Mulcair turned to forestry, promising that the NDP would pump $105 million over three years into the sector.
In Brampton, Ont., Trudeau talked, vowing to immediately double the number of entry applications for parents and grandparents of new immigrants to 10,000.
As the week came to a close, Trudeau also faced questions over a planned break from the campaign trail on the same weekend the Liberals鈥� is being released.
