KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (Reuters) - Good news about the economy propelled Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the campaign trail on Monday, with an earlier-than-expected budget surplus overshadowing the trial of a former aide for influence peddling.
Trumpeting a C$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion) budget surplus for the year just passed - the first surplus in seven years for Harper's nine-year-old Conservative government - the prime minister said his opponents in the race to the Oct. 19 election will turn the good news into bad if they topple him from office.