Prime Minister Stephen Harper hit the campaign trail in Newfoundland and Labrador on Friday, gunning for a breakthrough in the province, while New Democrat Leader Jack Layton was in Toronto and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff was in Quebec.
Harper started his day in Conception Bay by pledging a Conservative government would put defibrillators in every hockey arena in Canada.
In a bid to warm once-frosty relations in the province, Harper has already offered federal loan guarantees for the massive $6.2-billion Lower Churchill hydroelectric project.
That, along with support from Premier Kathy Dunderdale, is believed to have improved his chances in Canada's most easterly province.
In the 2008 election, Williams launched an ABC (Anything But Conservative) campaign against Harper, largely over disagreements about the equalization formula and whether non-renewable resources should be included.
As a result of the popular premier's campaign the Conservatives lost three seats and were completely shut out in Newfoundland -- something Harper hopes to changes this time around.
The Conservatives also hope to gain momentum with the release Wednesday night of two letters from late 2009, which show that a top Harper aide at that time contacted ethics commissioner Mary Dawson about Bruce Carson, a former aide to Harper.
The letters raised the possibility of a conflict of interest with Carson, and steps the PMO had taken to address the situation and to prevent any future similar cases.
In recent weeks it has emerged that Carson had been convicted of five fraud charges in the 1980s and 90s, and that the RCMP has been asked to investigate more recent allegations of improper lobbying by Carson.
Harper has said he would have never hired Carson, had he known the full extent of his troubles.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, meanwhile, is campaigning in Quebec on Thursday, stumping in Montreal where the Liberals hope to pick up new seats.
Ignatieff has also pledged federal support for Newfoundland and Labrador's Churchill Falls project, but isn't likely to bring that up in Quebec, where reaction has been mixed.
Premier Jean Charest has said the federal government should stay out of the energy industry and complained that Quebec built its own system without any help from the feds.
Ignatieff has struggled to stay on message in recent days after an interview in which he said he would try to cobble together a government if Harper won a minority, and couldn't get the confidence of the House of Commons.
Harper has taken the opportunity to reiterate his claim that only a Conservative majority can prevent a Liberal-led coalition government -- which he claims would endanger national unity and the economy.
New Democrat Leader Jack Layton, meanwhile, is in Toronto on Thursday where both he and his wife Olivia Chow are running for re-election.
Layton, buoyed by new polling that shows strong support for his party in Quebec, said Thursday that Quebecers -- and Canadians -- are beginning to see his party as a legitimate alternative to both the Conservatives and the Liberals.
"I think the key thing is people felt Stephen Harper was going to bring change and he didn't do it," Layton said Thursday in Toronto.
"People in Quebec want action taken on the issues affecting their families today and they're not seeing it from the Conservatives...and that's why we're working hard to replace the Conservatives."
The NDP has moved ahead of the Liberals to second place with 23.4 per cent support, according to polling conducted by Nanos Research on behalf of CTV and the Globe and Mail. The Bloc still leads with 32 per cent.
In Toronto, Layton announced a plan to unlock cellphones, allowing consumers to change providers without changing phones.
"Internet access and cell phone affordability are critical issues for Canadian families," Layton said in a statement. "But Stephen Harper is siding with the big service providers making digital services more expensive and less accessible. That's bad for consumers. And it's bad for our economy.
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe is in his home province on Thursday campaigning in Quebec City, while Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is in B.C. where she hopes to finally win a seat in Saanich-Gulf Islands.
