The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, July 23, edition that the Bank of Canada and the Tory government are pulling in opposite directions. The Globe's Jeffrey Simpson writes that the Tories have entered an election campaign with a sputtering economy. The BOC has doubled down on the low-dollar, export-led growth strategy, lowering interest rates again last week. The BOC is trying to get the economy out of the hospital while the Tories are busy saying the patient needs more budget-balancing medicine. The family allowance cheques arriving in the mail this week do not constitute economic stimulus. Low interest rates and a sagging dollar have done nothing for Canadian competitiveness in the past. Lower taxes and a balanced federal budget were supposed to be an elixir for sustained economic growth. This was the Tory mantra. As the election campaign begins, the mantra has fallen apart. The Tory will not warn that things would be worse under the Liberals and New Democrats. Mr. Simpson believes the central bank's effort to stimulate growth in the face of the Conservatives' tight fiscal policy and low commodity prices will begin to bear fruit before the Oct. 19 election.