THUNDER BAY, Ont. - Stephen Harper is refusing to say whether he'd stay on as Conservative leader if he fails to win a majority.
The prime minister says he won't take the bait on the question and insists he's campaigning to win.
Harper is in Thunder Bay, Ont., talking up the Tory plan to spend $100 million on a fund to support brain research and neuroscience.
He's hammering home the message that only a Conservative majority government can deliver on health-care funding and critical medical research.
Harper says one in three Canadians suffer from brain or nervous-system disorder, such as multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease.
Both Harper and Liberal rival Michael Ignatieff, who's campaigning in Winnipeg, are showing signs of campaign fatigue -- Harper slipped up several of his scripted lines.
"You know I'm not going to take the bite on that one," he said when asked whether he'd stay on if denied a majority.
"We're in the election to win."
A weary-looking Ignatieff, meanwhile, was in flood-plagued Manitoba to talk up his proposed $225-million freshwater strategy.
The two-year plan, contained in the Liberal platform, would explore the best scientific solutions to Canada's various water woes, including the flooding challenges that Manitoba faces each year.
Hundreds of people in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have been forced from their homes as the region confronts water levels higher than they've been in more than 100 years.
NDP Leader Jack Layton ventured into southern Ontario's hard-hit manufacturing heartland, where he accused Harper of doing nothing to prevent the loss of thousands of well-paying jobs.
"Stephen Harper goes into some of these communities and he doesn't even talk about jobs," he said prior to a campaign event in Welland, Ont.
"People are being left behind by this government."
The Welland region has seen many businesses close their doors. Henniges Automotive, one of Welland's largest employers, recently announced it will close its plant later this year, throwing over 300 people out of work.
