On his first anniversary as Liberal leader, Stephane Dion urged party faithful to prepare for an election in the new year.
"Will an election come in 2008? Maybe. So be ready at any time," he said on Sunday in a speech that closed a weekend-long meeting of riding presidents.
Although he wouldn't commit to a timeline, insiders say Dion is privately advising Liberals to be ready for an election as early as February, according to The Canadian Press.
Some Liberal MPs and strategists feel the party should try to bring down the Conservative government before it has the chance to release its budget, which is expected to contain further tax cuts.
Dion predicted the next election campaign will have an ideological focus.
"At the next election, there will be this narrow, selfish Conservative idea of Canada, with Stephen Harper's hidden agenda toward the U.S. Republican ideology,'' he said.
"And there will be our generous, sincere vision of a richer, greener, fairer Canada of the 21st century. There will be a collision between these two conceptions of our country.''
He also dismissed the NDP as a factor in the next election.
"In the last election, (NDP leader) Jack Layton asked Canadians to lend him their votes,'' said Dion. "And what did they get? Stephen Harper. Many Canadians will demand their vote back -- with interest.''
Dion slammed Harper's government for "opening the door" to reintroducing the death penalty. Although Harper has denied this, Dion was referring to the government's abandonment of Canada's policy of seeking clemency for Canadians facing the death penalty in other democratic countries.
The Liberal leader criticized the Tories for failing to protect Afghan detainees, refusing to sign the United Nations declaration of aboriginal rights and cutting programs for women and minorities.
"Canada needs more than ever the party of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the party of Pierre Elliott Trudeau,'' he said.
This despite the fact that, unlike the former prime minister, Dion is open to recognizing Quebec's distinctiveness.
Dion's first year as leader has been marked by losses in Quebec by-elections and a low standing in opinion polls, including one released Sunday which found that only a fifth of Canadians feel he's doing a good job.
However, he said he is unfazed by polls, indicating his party's close standing in comparison to the Tories.
"We have the best plan. Now Canadians must know it and when they will know it, they will support us big time,'' Dion said, predicting a Liberal win in the next election.
Although he admitted that victory won't come easily.
"It's a difficult fight. We don't underestimate the facts that we have facing us.''
On Saturday, Dion warned Liberals not to politicize the Mulroney-Schreiber affair.
He interrupted one conference attendee who called the scandal a "gift" for the Liberals, saying the issue is more about the protection of Canada's democracy.
"It's good to do that. It's the right thing to do, including for Mr. Mulroney," he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
