It’s election season, and Canada’s economy is sputtering. Despite job growth in the country as a whole, the economy slid into recession in the first half of 2015 for the first time in six years.

For many to the left of the ruling Conservative Party the slump is fortuitous, providing ammunition with which to assail the Conservatives for their mismanagement of the economy. The leader of the social-democratic New Democratic Party (NDP), Thomas Mulcair, has asserted that “Mr Harper’s plan clearly isn’t working,” while Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has declared that the Conservatives “hope in vain that the same plan that has been in place for the last ten years will still work and will kick-start the economy.”

In response to critics, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confidently stated that “the Canadian economy has great prospects going forward.” Harper’s cool veneer and steadfast approach seem to be giving him traction with voters, who appear to trust his management of the economy. But the assault on his track record is growing.