Canada election shifts attention to trade deal as race narrows

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrives at a news conference on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement in Ottawa, Canada October 5, 2015. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Trailing in second place two weeks before Canada's election, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a trade pact on Monday that largely protects the agricultural voting bloc, putting pressure on opponents who hope the deal would be a weak spot.

Harper touted the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a good accord that offers only limited access to Canada's politically important farm industry, largely neutralizing an attack from the left-leaning New Democratic Party, which has been sinking in polls.