Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says Canada's economy has suffered because the Conservatives have focused too much on the oil industry.
May said Friday the downturn in Canada's economy could be smoothed out by putting a moratorium on an expansion of the tar sands.
"That would help bring our dollar back to more of its historic relationship with the U.S. dollar and that would help our manufacturing sector," May said in an interview with CTV's Canada AM.
"Too much focus on producing oil in one region has hurt the rest of the country's economy."
May said Conservative Leader Stephen Harper may have a degree in economics but "he seems to have forgotten everything he learned in his quest for power."
She said her party would implement deeper cuts in income and payroll tax to help stimulate the economy. She also said addressing the climate crisis will help strengthen Canada's economy.
"We need to look very hard at Mr. Harper's economic record and the fact that his policies have driven up the Canadian dollar, cost us 400,000 jobs in manufacturing, cost us 100,000 jobs in pulp and paper," May said.
Meanwhile, May said she believes she can win against Conservative candidate Peter MacKay in Central Nova, who served as minister of defence in the last government.
"MacKay was vulnerable," said May. "I looked at the voting records from 2006, 60 per cent of the people who cast votes... voted for parties other than the Conservatives."
May said she's not running in this election to lose.
"It's a democracy and anytime there's an election anyone can win," May said.
Still, besides a potential win by Blair Wilson in West Vancouver, observers say the party is unlikely to win seats anywhere else.
Wilson, elected in 2006 as a Liberal MP, joined the Green Party in August.
May is currently on the first cross-Canada whistle-stop tour since the 1960s, when former prime minister John Diefenbaker toured the country by train.
Her party's platform includes additional taxes for carbon emitters, tax cuts for low income earners, and a hike in the GST.
