Federal party leaders hit the hustings hard Sunday as they made their last-ditch appeals for support ahead of Monday's election.
NDP Leader Jack Layton kept up his campaign's high intensity with a bold prediction that "we can defeat Stephen Harper" if New Democrat supporters "create lineups" at the polls.
Layton told a crowd in Kingston, Ont. that the "winds of change are a-blowin'" across the country, as recent polls show the NDP has shot to first place in Quebec and second place nationally.
He told supporters in Montreal earlier Sunday there was "a lot of work to do" to get the vote out, but struck a decidedly optimistic tone.
"We have a historic opportunity here and in fact it began right here in Quebec, it began here in Quebec when people said the old debates, the old conflicts we've had, let's put them aside and work together," Layton said.
Layton vowed there would be victories in Ontario for the NDP, referring to Sunday campaign stops. "We're going to win the Beaches, we're going to win Oshawa, we can change the government, we won't only oppose Mr. Harper, we're going to replace him," Layton told the Montreal crowd, first asking if they were familiar with Toronto.
While the NDP appears poised to make significant gains Monday after shooting to a close second in the polls, critics have charged that the party is running little-known and inexperienced candidates in a number of ridings.
A number of NDP incumbents -- including Layton, his wife, Olivia Chow, deputy leader Thomas Mulcair, justice critic Joe Comartin and House leader Libby Davies -- are known and well-respected on Parliament Hill.
However, some rookie candidates are still unknown to their potential constituents. And a few have been criticized for taking vacations during the campaign, such as Jim Koppens, the candidate for Ontario riding Ajax-Pickering, and Ruth Ellen Brosseau, candidate in the rural Quebec riding of Berthier-Maskinonge.
Layton was scheduled to end his day of campaigning in Toronto.
While Layton rallied the crowds Sunday, he also declined to take questions from the media, following the example set by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Both leaders' campaign teams appeared intent on minimizing the risk of any possible missteps on the final day of the campaign before Canadians go to the polls on Monday.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, by contrast, was taking questions Sunday and chided his two main opponents for refusing to do so. "What you're about to see is called in the business a 'press availability,'" he said. "There's the press, and I'm available."
Harper 'has no vision for Canada'
Ignatieff, speaking in Ajax, Ont., said he doesn't put much stock in polls that show the NDP far ahead of the Liberals, and said Canadians will vote for the party that "knows how to balance a budget.
"We know how to get a deficit under control, we know how to make promises and keep them," Ignatieff said.
He also flatly dismissed Harper's call for Liberal supporters to vote Conservative to avoid an NDP government.
"Mr. Harper hates everything the Liberal Party stands for," Ignatieff said. "Mr. Harper has no vision for Canada, but he has a very sharp vision for the Conservative Party of Canada, which is to drive a stake through the heart of the Liberal party."
Ignatieff was also pressed repeatedly by reporters on whether he would remain party leader if the Liberals are hammered at the polls on Monday.
Ignatieff said he would be willing to stay on for a "sophomore" season with the Liberals, regardless of the outcome on Monday.
But he would not elaborate on his intentions, choosing instead to focus on election day. "I want to stay, I want to continue, I want to win this election on the second of May," Ignatieff said.
"But my fate is not just in my hands. Hey, folks -- it's in the hands of millions of Canadian voters out there, and this election is not over.
"After the election, we see where we are, but in every case my fate is in the hands of democratic institutions. It's a fact, and it's a fact I welcome."
Ignatieff spent the day in Liberal heartland, making five stops in the Greater Toronto Area on Sunday. The Toronto area -- especially the urban core -- is one of the few regions where polling suggests Liberal support has remained relatively consistent.
Harper pitches Liberal voters
Harper, speaking in P.E.I. Sunday morning, kept up his familiar message that only a Conservative majority government can ensure a stable economy.
He said a vote for the NDP would be a vote for higher taxes and gas prices and said only the Conservatives have a credible plan to continue the economic recovery.
"Our plan has made a real difference already, with more than 26,000 projects from coast to coast to coast," Harper said.
Harper also used the final day of campaigning to suggest that a vote for the Liberals would equal a vote for the NDP, a warning he sounded to both the crowd in P.E.I., as well as a rally in London, Ont.
"Let me be clear to traditional Liberal voters. Many of you do not want NDP economic policies, you do not want NDP tax hikes, and to make sure that the next Parliament does not raise taxes, Canada now needs a strong economy and it can get it with a stable Conservative majority," Harper said.
While Sunday's Tory rallies were filled with enthusiastic supporters, the tightly controlled script was broken momentarily in London by a protester who shouted at Harper as he began to speak.
The man called Harper a liar before being drowned out by boos from Conservative supporters. The protester was quickly escorted from the rally.
Harper began his day in Stratford, P.E.I. on Sunday, before heading to London. He was scheduled to appear at a rally in Abbotsford, B.C. late Sunday.
Duceppe campaigns in own riding
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May stayed in their home provinces of Quebec and B.C., respectively.
Duceppe opted work in his own riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie, which he has held since 1990.
Recent polls have suggested Duceppe is at risk of losing his seat. The Bloc leader said regardless of what the polls say, "I have to work until the very end."
"I think we are the only party that is defending the interests of Quebec and we are defending them in our national language for Quebec," he said.
