With polls showing Liberal support collapsing in British Columbia, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is talking less about his party's traditional rivals and focusing his attacks on the NDP.
"They're a high-tax party, they're a soft-on-crime party," he said in Vancouver Wednesday.
Harper also urged British Columbians to avoid strategic voting on the assumption that his party would win the election - saying it could lead to a Liberal government
"I think with this current situation, we have a great danger if voters presume that we will win, they could vote for others for strategic reasons. If we vote for an opposition, we'll have another government," Mr. Harper told reporters.
Harper said because the Liberals have become so weak in B.C., he fears some voters may rush off to the NDP.
"We would just encourage voters in British Columbia to take a clear look at what the federal NDP actually stands for on the issues that actually matter to them," said Harper. "They will see that that party is far more similar to the Liberals then it is not."
He also addressed speculation that the NDP could form a coalition government with the Liberals if the Tories win a slim majority.
"I think Jack Layton let the veil slip when he indicated his preference to work with the Liberals in the next Parliament," said Harper.
"The message here is very simple: if you don't want a Liberal government you should vote Conservative because if you vote NDP you're probably voting for a Liberal government one way or another.
Harper also referred to Layton's party as the "Ottawa NDP" -- trying to separate them from their populist provincial counterpart.
Pollster Peter Donolo of the Strategic Counsel said both the Tories and the NDP could make gains in B.C. this year.
"The NDP is in a position at this stage pick up a few seats but just as likely to cut into the Liberal vote enough that the Conservatives will win seats," he said.
Harper continued to hammer the Liberals on their "Green Shift" plan -- a proposal that doesn't sit well in B.C. because the province already has a carbon tax.
"And if you don't want to pay two carbon taxes the only way you can be sure in British Columbia you're not going to be paying two carbon taxes is to vote for the Conservative Party."
Layton, who is scheduled to return to B.C. later Wednesday, pledged earlier in the day to reverse the Conservatives' softwood lumber deal with the United States.
During the campaign, Layton has largely sidestepped the Liberals and instead targeted Harper and the Conservatives -- a move that appears to be boosting support for his party.
Dion downplays coalition
Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion faced more questions Wednesday about the possibilities of a coalition with the NDP.
Dion said he's focused on winning the election and becoming prime minister.
He said the NDP's insistence on raising corporate taxes makes co-operation between the two parties almost impossible.
But CTV's Robert Fife, travelling with the Liberals, said the party is desperate "to try and get some momentum," calling for "all progressive forces" to rally behind them.
Later on Wednesday, Dion promised to spend $75 million to protect ethno-cultural centres and places of worship across Canada.
He said ethnic and religious organizations are forced to pay for their own security at the expense of core community services.
"Ensuring the basic security of its citizens is one of the most important functions of any government," Dion said in the prepared remarks from speech at the Asper Centre in Winnipeg.
Dion said the plan was a key element of the Liberal effort to fight racism and hate crimes.
Dion also slammed Harper for calling an election on the Oct. 14, the first day of Sukkot, a Jewish holiday.
The Canadian Jewish Congress had written a letter prior to the election call, calling Harper to reject the date for an election.
Harper says he'll get tough on polluters
Harper told voters that he's the leader best suited to protect the environment and announced a plan to hold environmental offenders accountable.
"If you want a government that is tough on environmental crime, you should elect a government that is tough on crime generally," he said at a campaign stop in Vancouver Wednesday.
The Environmental Enforcement Action Plan calls for a $113-million investment over the next five years to fund new measures such as increased inspections, specialized environmental prosecutors, and a public database that details corporation's convicted of environmental crimes.
The plan also calls for increased penalties for the most serious environmental crime -- $6 million for companies and $1 million for individuals.
Harper said that under the previous Liberal government, environmental enforcement was chronically underfunded and penalties on industrial polluters were as low as $4,000 and did not exceed $50,000.
"This was, quite simply, a national disgrace," Harper said.
"Yes, the opposition makes sweeping pronouncements about its commitment to the environment. But when they had the power to act, when they were in government, Canada had virtually no environmental monitoring enforcement capacity."
The Conservatives would also create a searchable database so that Canadians could learn the names of environmental offenders.
Spending on the plan would increase at a rate of $25 million annually after the first five years, Harper added.
