Pooping puffin paralyzes Canada Conservative event

On matters of substance, Harper said his proposed diesel tax underlined the different visions he and Dion have.

Dion is proposing to raise the excise tax on diesel as part of a broader set of carbon taxes to fight climate change, offset with income tax cuts and subsidies -- taxing what is bad, pollution, and cutting taxes on what is good, income.

Harper, speaking at a distribution center where Manitoba vegetables are trucked across the province and to the United States, challenged the idea that activities that cause carbon emissions are automatically bad.

"The kinds of things diesel is used for, which is primarily for commercial transportation, this has to be done. My opponent has said he wants to tax things that are bad," Harper said.

"Heating your home, is that bad? Taking groceries to market, is that bad? Allowing airplane transportation, the shipping of goods across the continent, around the world, business and passenger transportation, are these bad things? No, these are essential things for the economy."