Manitoba's major political parties wasted little time getting into election mode during the weekend as party leaders knocked on doors, attended events and made a few campaign promises.

Sunday's Earth Day celebrations provided an opportunity to discuss issues with a green theme.

In perhaps the biggest announcement of the young campaign so far, NDP Leader Gary Doer has committed to making Kyoto emission targets provincial law by 2012. 

The strategy includes vehicle efficiency standards, new building codes and money to help farmers reduce their emissions.

Environmentalist David Suzuki called the initiative a positive step, noting it goes past political promises by pledging to become a law.

"The problems with all of these promises is that governments turn over, and when they turn over, as we have seen at the federal level, why should succeeding governments feel committed to the commitments of the previous governments?" he said.

"I think to be able to enshrine these targets, so that whoever is elected in the coming years will be committed to meeting those targets, I think that's terrific."

But local stakeholders, including the head of one of Manitoba's biggest business groups, want more details.

"There [have] been very few explicit conversations about specific targets," said Jim Carr of the Business Council of Manitoba.

"But now that Mr. Doer has set those targets, the business community would want to carry on a conversation with him."

Carr's chief concern is Manitoba's capacity to be competitive. 

Liberals promise faster lake cleanup

The Manitoba Eco-Network applauded the idea of enshrining emission targets in law, but it is also looking for more information on the promise.

"We'd have to look at what the detailed elements were and ensure that they were really addressing the key areas where the emissions were the highest," said Anne Lindsey, the group's executive director.

In separate statements, Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard and Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen blasted the NDP government's environmental record.

McFadyen said under the NDP, Manitoba had the highest increase in greenhouse gas emissions in Canada last year. 

Gerrard said the Doer government was following ideas his party had proposed for years.

Gerrard used Earth Day as a platform to speak specifically about cleaning up Lake Winnipeg.

On a campaign swing through the Interlake, Gerrard pledged to cut the amount of phosphorus that enters the lake.

Tories to fund soccer complex

Gerrard promised a Liberal government would implement a plan to start removing phosphorus in sewage from Winnipeg as quickly as possible.

The NDP's plans to remove nitrogen from sewage will take too long and cost too much, he said.

"So far, the government has had far too many reports and far too little action," Gerrard said.  "Lake Winnipeg has gotten far worse under their stewardship, and we need action now. The Liberal plan will do it. The NDP plan is weak and inadequate."

McFadyen's Sunday campaigning took him to a green space, kicking around a soccer ball. He pledged support for an indoor soccer complex in south Winnipeg, saying a Tory government would spend up to $3 million on the facility.

"Soccer is a great, accessible sport for so many people in our city," he said. "It's relatively inexpensive; the registration annually runs no more than $100 a year. The equipment is minimal. It's easy to do, inexpensive, affordable for all families."

McFadyen promised he would work with the city of Winnipeg to build the facility.