Will the surplus shift attention away from negative news plaguing the Conservatives?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It always sounds good, but will a surprise surplus announcement bode well for the Tories? Or is it too little, too late?

The feds have posted a $1.9-billion surplus in 2014-2015, bringing the country’s books back into balance a year earlier than expected. The result ends a streak of six deficits under the Conservatives.

In the grand scheme of things, $1.9 billion is a very small figure, but political scientist Patrick Smith with SFU says it is “better” news for the party.

“I think it also sets up Mr. Harper to try and get the focus back onto the economy, with the leaders debate this Thursday being mostly focused on the economy.”

Smith adds with the trial of former Harper adviser Bruce Carson beginning today, there are things that could shove attention away from the party’s message.

He figures the news may arm Harper with some ammo against the other parties; the Conservative leader may claim he’s the only leader who can run a surplus.

“I think Mr. Harper will say on Thursday, probably — and maybe leading up to Thursday — ‘You can’t trust these guys to not run a deficit and I’m the only guy that can actually get things into surplus. And look, I did!'”

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