Justin Trudeau vows to 'bring Canadians together' at Brampton rally

Liberal Leader JustinTrudeau promised Sunday to replace Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's "small and meek and fearful" vision of Canada with one that is "open and confident and hopeful" as he campaigned in front of thousands of cheering party faithfulat a Brampton, Ont., arena.

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"Franklin Roosevelt said, 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' Well, Stephen Harper has nothing to offer but fear itself. Fear of terrorism. Fear of the world beyond our borders. Fear of each other,"Trudeausaid.

"Well, let me tell you something. Fear makes us weak, not strong. The prime minister's job is to bring Canadians together, not to tear us apart."

The Conservative campaign hasemphasizedbanning face-covering religiousgarb at citizenship ceremonies, revoking the citizenship of dualcitizens convicted of terrorism and cracking down on what the Conservatives have called "barbariccultural practices."

The prime minister's job is to bring Canadians together, not to tear us apart.- Liberal Leader JustinTrudeau

Trudeau said the Conservatives under Harper "havebrought unprecedented nastiness" to public life.

"For 10 years, Stephen Harper has never missed an opportunity to divide Canadians.East against West. Urban against rural. French against English. So-called 'old stock' Canadians vs newcomers," he said.

"His first instinct is to appeal to the worst instincts."

At least 5,000supporters attended therally, held in one of the country's most ethnicallydiverse citieswhere half the residents are immigrantsfor whom the prospect of two classes of citizenship is particularly worrisome.

Trudeau was introduced to the crowd by his wife, Sophie Gregoire.

Shequipped the long campaign may have ledher husband to call theBloc Qubcois leader 'my love' in French during the French debate on Friday.

"You know, he does have beautiful blue eyes but when your husband starts calling Gilles Duceppe'mon amour,' you know it's been too long," she said.

Ads aim at Harper

The Liberals will release their full platform on Monday, which will include some new spendingcommitments, but they say it's all accounted for intheir previously unveiled fiscal framework.

It will come a day afterthe Liberals launched a suiteof new ads three television and two radio spots aimedsquarely at Harper.

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The adscontrastwhatTrudeaudepicts as theConservative leader's dismal economic record with the Liberalprescription for immediate "real change" to boost growth, createjobs and put more money in the pockets of struggling middle-classCanadians.

Only one makes a passing mention of NDP Leader TomMulcair, whoseparty began the campaign as the front-runner but is now flagging inthe polls.

Trudeaumaintains that Harper has latched onto theniqabcontroversy and other hot-button issues as a distraction from hiseconomic record, which is the sole focus of the new Liberal ads.

They hammer away at the theme that the Conservative leader is tired,out of touch and out of ideas to get Canada's stagnant economygrowing again.

"You know what they say about doing the same thing over and overand expecting a different result," Trudeau intones in one TV ad asthe screen fills with multiple shots of a dour-looking Harper overthe years, buttoning his suit jacket as he rises to speak in theHouse of Commons.

"Stephen Harper has had 10 years to get our economy moving andhe's failed. His plan for moving ahead? More of the same. Harperthinks everything is fine but our middle class is falling behind."

The ad then cuts to a cheerful, youthful Trudeau, shirt sleevesrolled up, tie loosened, striding purposefully across the grounds ofParliament Hill as he recites the pillars of his economic plan:"Raise taxes for our wealthiest one per cent, cut them for ourmiddle class and invest now in jobs and growth. That's realchange."

Mulcair mentioned in one ad

In one radio ad,Trudeau promises to cancelchild benefitcheques to the wealthiest one per cent "and I'lldo it now," he says.

The emphasis on immediacy in all the ads is a veiled dig atMulcair, who is mentioned by name only in the other new radio ad,directed specifically at Torontonians.

In that ad, Trudeau opines that "the traffic in Toronto isunbelievable." He then trumpets his plan to "triple federal investmentin transit over the next four years" and says that's somethingneither Harper nor Mulcair can promise "because they wantto balance the budget in Year One."

During Sunday's rally in the Toronto suburb,Trudeauaccused Harper of being too out of touch with Canadians to understand trafficgridlock.

"Stephen Harper just doesn't see what you're going through.When you spend a decade in a motorcade, you don't have to worry about traffic jams.That's what happens when you've been in power too long," he said.

Trudeau is promising to run deficits of less than $10 billion foreach of the next three years in order to almost double the federalinvestment in new infrastructure.