A group of 50 Quebec artists and social activists have come together on the web and YouTube with an anti-Harper message.

Emmanuel Marchand

Each gives a testimonial for voting against Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. Cuts to arts funding, harsher sentences for youth offenders and the environment are the most popular reasons for their anti-Harper stance.

The Montreal Gazette says our political leaders may be making a mistake by abandoning their neckties. The leaders are obviously trying for a more casual look, with their frequent use of sweaters.

Emmanuel Marchand

The necktie is coming back into vogue says Hans Koechling, owner of a Westmount firm that organizes fashion shows.

He says it’s clear that their image consultants are trying to make the leaders more approachable, but the tie isn’t the status symbol it once was.

Stephen Harper wants the television networks staging this week's leaders' debates to extend the segment devoted to the economy from 12 minutes to a full hour.

Chris Hall

How is it that it took from March 2003 until September 30, 2008 for someone to notice that portions of Stephen Harper's speech to Parliament on the invasion of Iraq was, in some places, nearly identical to a speech delivered two days earlier by former Australian Prime Minister John Howard?

James Cudmore

Australia is a long way away. But as everyone knows now, the internet has turned us all into neighbours.

A new poll shows Tory minister Michael Fortier is lagging way behind the Bloc. La Presse/Crop published a poll today looking at six individual ridings.

Emmanuel Marchand

Fortier quit the Senate to seek a seat in the House of Commons. He is also the Minister of Public Works and the minister with responsibility for the greater Montreal area.

But according to the poll, Bloc MP Faille, is proving very popular. She took the riding away from the Liberals in 2004. She then faced and beat Liberal star candidate Marc Garneau in 2006.

Gilles Duceppe is off the campaign hustings to prepare for the two televised leaders' debates — in French Wednesday night, and in English Thursday.

Tim Duboyce

In preparation for debates, some leaders appoint members of their staff to play the part of other debate participants. So, for example, Stephen Harper might face off in private against his campaign strategists who pretend they are Stéphane Dion, Jack Layton, Elizabeth May, and Gilles Duceppe. (Not sure whether they imitate the accents or not.)

Seen at a Stephen Harper campaign press conference today, when a reporter who isn't on "the list" seeks approval from Harper's moderator to sneak in a last minute quick question (on a day Harper'd already been asked about abortion twice and the death penalty once, while poll numbers in Quebec are slipping).

Paul Hunter

Seen at a Harper campaign press conference two weeks ago, when a reporter who'd already had a question (only one per person is allowed — no follow-ups) seeks approval from Harper's moderator to sneak in another, on a topic Harper will use to slam Stéphane Dion:

A nod of the head — yes.

It happened again today: a young girl fainted at a Stephen Harper campaign event. That makes six in the past two weeks.

Paul Hunter

Maybe Conservatives should feed these people first.

Campaigns are all about comparisons: platforms, party positions, leaders.

Susan Lunn

After two weeks with the Conservatives, I had one short flight with the NDP's Kitchen Air. And there are some similarities. There's enough food to feed an army.

The Air Canada crew is gracious and welcoming. But there was one difference for me. On the NDP plane I got a book. Jack Layton's book to be exact. Autographed with a message addressed to me.

Who knew airing your dirty laundry could make money?

Alison Crawford

Blue sweaters are not just for Conservatives any more.

Today, on a taping of The Hour, Jack Layton wore a blue sweater.

Normally orange is the NDP colour.

We just wanted to chat.

We're really not that scary.

Our questions might have even been innocuous, for all he knew. But I guess Gerry Ritz has a different impression of reporters.

After the agriculture debate today in Ottawa, in which Ritz did not utter the word listeriosis once, the agriculture minister quickly exited stage right.

Ritz slipped out a side door without so much as a wave to the media.

Dutifully, reporters raced outside, ran to the parking lot but alas the minister had made his getaway. I guess we'll never know what he had for lunch.

Really, that's all we wanted to know.

I've got mail! Oh, boy, have I got mail.

James Cudmore

There's been lots of chat over the past few elections about reporters and their unhealthy addiction to their BlackBerries.

Of course, now that almost everyone in political Ottawa has a Blackberry, everyone in political Ottawa uses one.

It's not uncommon to write more than a hundred notes a day and to receive even more. But during an election campaign that gets much worse — much, much worse.

One of Gilles Duceppe's candidates is contradicting the Bloc leader's longstanding assertion the party is a legitimate opposition party which serves parliament in the same way as all the other parties.

Tim Duboyce

He says voters in the province have chosen Bloc candidates on nearly eight million ballots in the last six elections.

Today, confronted by a reporter, Laval candidate Nicole Demers, described the Bloc more as a kind of lobby group in Parliament.

Two polls published today in the Journal de Montréal and La Presse suggest that support for the Tories may be slipping in Quebec.

Emmanuel Marchand

It reports support for the Bloc at 33 per cent of decides voters asked, with the Conservatives at 26 per cent, the Liberals at 23 per cent, the NDP at 12 per cent and the Greens at five per cent.

The regional breakdown is interesting, too with the Liberals and the Bloc pretty much tied on the Island of Montreal.

The Tories are hoping to make gains in the ridings around Montreal but the polls suggest it might be tough for them to pick up those seats.

At the Bathurst subway station in Toronto this morning, Jack Layton did plenty of glad-handing after making a public transit announcement.

Rosemary Barton

His only question for Layton: "Could you give me a note for my teacher explaining why I am late?"

Layton laughed and said, "You'll go far kid."

He then advised Dov to address the question to his local member of Parliament: one Olivia Chow (Layton's wife).

Spotted at the rally where NDP released its platform in Toronto on Sunday:

One NDP supporter sporting a sweater vest. He told me it was a tip of the hat to Stephen Harper.

He was carrying a large sign that read: "Don't fear me because I'm wearing a sweater vest."

On his 53rd birthday on Sunday, Stéphane Dion was asked what he’ll wish for when he blows out his birthday candles.

“My wish is for Canada to succeed as a richer, fairer, greener country”, he replied.

A safe and simple wish — noble and generous-sounding, and right on the party line. With the round of applause that followed, it looked like Dion had played the question well.

But by flouting the old superstition of keeping your birthday wish private in order for it to come true, did Dion just jinx his own campaign?

Gilles Duceppe took it pretty easy on Sunday. First, he brunched with some supporters north of Montreal at Mirabel (of mothballed international airport fame), then he took an elaborate tour of an apple, pear and plum orchard in Oka, the place where a proposed golf course expansion on aboriginal lands sparked the long native standoff in 1990.

Tim Duboyce

Front a visual standpoint, the apple orchard was a great idea. Beautiful nature shots of the Bloc leader picking apples and meeting local folks out picking fruit on a lazy Sunday afternoon. He also toured a production facility that makes cider and homemade pies.

Liberal leader Stéphane Dion has added a new line to his speech that reflects the fight he is facing in this campaign. It is an attack on Jack Layton.

Susan Bonner

As Dion now has it: "Jack Layton's old-fashioned socialist mentality is as backwards as Stephen Harper's old-fashioned conservative ideology."

This new addition looks like a reflection of the fact that in some parts of the country, the Liberals need to fight the NDP as fiercely as they do the Conservatives.

Indeed, some pundits are suggesting the NDP may overtake the Liberals as the alternative to the Conservatives.

It wasn't exactly a fireside chat, it happened on an Air Canada jet, after all. But continuing his new tradition, Stephen Harper came to the back of the plane late Saturday for a casual chat with reporters, shortly after his now famous high school reunion in Toronto.

Paul Hunter

And this time (happily), he came all the way back to where the CBC could hear him clearly.

Some highlights:

About the reunion itself: he says he had more fun the night before, with just his graduating classmates. The big event, Saturday, was for everyone who had gone to the school in 50 years.

To the question, did he really graduate with a 95 per cent average? Yes.

Then he volunteered the fallout from that: Harper ended up on the TV show Reach For The Top that year (Hello? CBC Archives?). But faced a toughie named Dino Zacconi who, as Harper puts it, "slaughtered" him.

So, as previously written, Saturday night was the Festival of Lights party aboard Layton's campaign plane.

It is a long flight from Vancouver to Toronto and amusement is a necessity.

Rosemary Barton

But apart from the Chinese outfits and food, there was also, wait for it, karaoke. In this case, a complicated system hooked up to the plane's PA system.

Of course, someone had to go first and because television reporters are generally hams and, I would say, good sports, that turned out to be me. (The song: "Knock on Wood.")

After the karakoe, it was time for the sing-song. There are four guitars on board and Layton led the singing with such classics as "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Imagine."

Paul Hunter

Sometimes it pays to be early. And the payoff for getting to the private hangar in Toronto ahead of Prime Minister Harper on Saturday night was — on the day he died — a Paul Newman story.

Turns out the receptionist had worked at the hangar for many years. And in that time she had taken snaps of herself with some of the celebrities who'd passed through her terminal.

Among them: Robin Williams, Jon Bon Jovi, Mel Gibson, and Bill Clinton.

Justin Trudeau was shaking hands in Montreal's overwhelmingly popular Jean-Talon market this afternoon, in his bid to win the riding of Papineau for the Liberals, when the funniest thing happened.

Tim Duboyce

He ran into Bloc leader, Gilles Duceppe, who also decided a Saturday afternoon swing through the bustling market would be a great way to give his incumbent Papineau candidate, Vivian Barbot, a campaign boost.

The three of them exchanged pleasantries, and a light-hearted barb or two.

Each time, Stéphane Dion has come to the media section of the plane with a cake, singing Happy Birthday.

Alison Crawford

Now it's his turn.

Dion officially turns 53 tomorrow

Susan Bonner

After all, it is Stéphane Dion's 53rd birthday.

But the schedule has been changed.

Rosemary Barton

It was a sea of orange in Vancouver.

At another of Jack Layton's Rally for Change he was greeted by hundreds of NDP supporters with bright orange signs that read "Strong Leader" — and, of course, all sorts of orange accessories, from bandanas to hats to orange hi-lights in hair.

It is Layton's last event before releasing his platform tomorrow.

As Susan Bonner already reported, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion had a little tipple at the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival this afternoon.

Dion toured the festival grounds with his local candidate and former Liberal MP Walt Lastewka.

Alison Crawford

Also on the scene, but hanging back quite a bit was the area’s local Conservative candidate Rick Dykstra.

So how does it feel to have the Liberal leader on his turf?

Susan Bonner

Stéphane Dion mingled with the largest crowd yet of this campaign.

It happened in St. Catharines, Ont., in a riding the Conservatives won by just 246 votes in the last election.

Dion was visiting the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe says he missed last night's debate between the two U.S. presidential candidates, so he could get an extra bit of shuteye.

Tim Duboyce

But the 61-year-old Bloc leader denies he is feeling fatigued as he heads into the fourth week of the election campaign.

"I'd say I'm in pretty good shape. I'm very careful about what I eat and drink. No wine for the [election] period," he said.

Michael Ignatieff made a surprise appearance on the Liberal campaign today in Stoney Creek, Ont.

Susan Bonner

He came to showcase the Liberal team. And to bolster the arsenal against Stephen Harper.

He started his speech by reminding people what the election is about.

It isn't that often that a federal election campaign gets blown off the top of newscasts for days on end, but these are not normal times.

The events in Washington are turning into this generation's version of the Cuban Missile Crisis and seem to be taking about as long to play out.

Mix in presidential politics and you have something resembling the perfect political storm — and an incredibly compelling drama with the potential to touch the lives of millions, if not billions of people.

Stéphane Dion and Stephen Harper spent most of the week attacking each other's ability to lead in the shadow of a dramatic economic meltdown in the United States.

But some more sober analysis came from a former finance minister.

Lorne Mayencourt is the Conservative candidate in Vancouver Centre.

Keith Boag

He's the same Lorne Mayencourt who used to be the Liberal MLA for Vancouver-Burrard in Gordon Campbell's government. And that's the same government that introduced Canada's first carbon tax.

So Mayencourt has actually stood and voted for a carbon tax in one legislature and is now opposing a similar carbon tax as he runs for a seat in another legislature.

He's aware it's a circle he'll be asked to square a few times.

On his website he says, "We can't afford to be double taxed by Stéphane Dion's massive tax and spend plan that will drag us into deficit."

Look forward to Stéphane Dion unplugged in the final stretch of the campaign.

Susan Bonner

Or at least his teleprompter will be unplugged.

Dion's advisers note that the Liberal leader performs more naturally and enthusiastically when he throws away his script and talks off the cuff. After all, he's got his main points memorized by now. (After three weeks I can recite the lines by heart. I won't, but I can.)

Indeed on Friday night in London, Ont., Dion impressed a big rally with an impassioned speech attacking Harper for attacking him.

And in the last few speeches he has begun to engage the crowd and get them to shout out answers to respond to his prompts.

Prompting an end to the prompter.

Saturday night promises to be an exciting one for Stephen Harper, and it has nothing to do with modest achievable promises.

Paul Hunter

He's taking a one-night break from campaigning to be the keynote speaker at the 50th anniversary celebration of his former Toronto high school, Richview Collegiate Institute.

One can only imagine the pre-speech chit-chat with long-lost pals:

"Oh, you know, travelling, writing a book, running the country, that kind of thing. What about you?"

Among the things I look for at a political rally are homemade signs.

Alison Crawford

Tonight Stéphane Dion spoke to a crowd of around 450 people in London, Ont. It's the home of Western University, so Dion was greeted by a group of enthusiastic young Liberals.

Beyond the thundersticks and red T-shirts reading "Diontario," were those hand-painted signs.

One took liberties with Dion's campaign slogan, "Richer, Fairer, Greener, Cooler."

Others encouraged, "Take Back Ottawa." And my favourite, "Chicks Dig Dion."

There is nothing like an election to remind you how big this country really is — actually the word ginormous might apply here.

Rosemary Barton

So, what do we do on those long hauls from one end to another?

Well, some read, some work, some chat, some sleep.

Jack Layton he does a bit of it all.

Right now he is listening to an audio version of the book Blindness, by José Saramago. And reading a book by Mel Hurtig.

Stephen Harper's a big fan of hot sauce.

He even travels with his own personal stash, tucked into the seat pocket in front of him, along with a copy of enRoute magazine and a card describing the safety features of his plane (it's recommended Harper read the card before take off in order to familiarize himself with said safety features.)

James Cudmore

But back to the hot sauce.

Turns out Harper has a little collection of different sauces. Some are hotter, some are milder, some smokier, some less smoky — basically a whole range of piquant delight.

Now, the funny thing about hot sauces is that they are sort of the opposite of bland.

And Harper admits he's kind of a bland guy, running, in some views, a fairly bland campaign. Not that he's not an interesting guy, or that his campaign is boring, just that they're both fairly low-key, and could stand a little spicing up.

Stephen Harper pulled an old Paul Martin campaign trick the other day in B.C., by grabbing a camera from the hands of a photographer and turning the tables on everyone by aiming it back at the horde of shooters who usually take snaps of the Conservative leader.

Paul Hunter

He clicked the camera twice.

When asked later whether if either of Harper's pics were any good, the answer from the photographer: "Questionable."

Tough crowd, those photogs.

Last time around, the combined votes for both the Conservative, and for the successful NDP candidate in the riding of Vancouver Island North was 46,488.

Paul Hunter

Total votes for the Liberal candidate? It was 7,239.

So score one for determination this week when, at a Stephen Harper rally in Comox, B.C., amid the large pro-Harper crowd was an apparent lone fan of the riding's Liberal candidate this election, Geoff Fleischer.

No one bothered him, as he proudly waved his lo-fi hand-painted placard.

"Go Geoff!" it said.

It is not something the average professor or constitutional expert from urban Canada would work into an afternoon's schedule.

Susan Bonner

The Liberal leader took a short ride with Suzanne van Bommel, the owner of the farm and Liberal candidate for the area in southwestern Ontario.

For the first time in the campaign, he wore jeans.

She drove.

Tim Duboyce

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe has decided to launch the final sprint of his election campaign with a swing through Toronto.

Duceppe has accepted an invitation from the Toronto Economic Club to deliver a speech on Oct. 3, the day after the English-language leaders' debate.

His talk is entitled "Elections 2008: Dangerous Times Ahead."

Duceppe says he thinks it is important to give English Canada a better look at the Bloc and its ideas.

"And, to explain why we think that it would not be a good thing if the Tories be a majority in the House," Duceppe told reporters.

Yesterday, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada strongly endorsed the U.S. government's $700-billion bailout plan for Wall Street’s troubled financial institutions as "critically important" to bringing the crisis under control.

Chris Goldrick

Carney is a veteran of the U.S investment banking business, after spending 13 years employed at Goldman Sachs, with several of them on Wall Street in a variety of roles including managing director of investment banking.

And while Carney was leapfrogging up the corporate ladder at Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson the current U.S Treasury Secretary and the man spearheading the U.S government bailout was a high-flying colleague.

Paulson eventually became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Goldman Sachs.

Alison Crawford

Some people in the Toronto riding of Parkdale-High Park are torn.

They can't decide which candidate to vote for in the upcoming election.

The long-time Liberal riding turned orange in 2006 with the election of New Democrat Peggy Nash. She's very popular.

But so is the Liberal candidate, Gerard Kennedy. He was the area's MPP and a cabinet minister in the Ontario government.

James Cudmore

Some computer users like to think you can tell a lot about a person by the type of computer — or even the operating system — they use.

Some PC users refuse to even touch a Windows operating system like Vista or XP and instead swear by the free, open software Linux.

Of course, there's the whole Apple vs. PC discourse, too.

Apple picked up on this in its famous "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" campaign. The Mac guy in the ad was young and hip and cool and thin, dressed in coolish clothes; PC guy was none of these things.

The campaign was enormously successful, some say, because it played to people's perceptions of themselves: "I'm a cool guy; I should buy a Mac."

So, what would a politician's computing choice say about him or her?

Tim Duboyce

At the same time Gilles Duceppe is dodging the contentious question of which Quebec town is the true home of poutine, the Bloc leader is also unabashedly diving into another even more controversial issue.

While visiting the south central part of the province, a local reporter asked Duceppe if he thought the federal government should act to help protect the region's dwindling asbestos industry.

For decades, the mines, which are nearly all shut down, provided thousands of jobs.

(Most experts and politicians from outside Quebec agree the substance presents human health hazards that outweigh its benefits as a fire retardant in the construction of buildings.)

Duceppe is urging Ottawa to release a study on the real danger levels of asbestos, which he claims has been unduly kept from the public.

It's been a very quiet time for those who deal with government departments in Ottawa. Many departments just don't seem to want to say much during the campaign.

Chris Rands

I received a call this morning inviting me to join a conference call featuring Robert Grenier. Grenier has dedicated himself to searching for the ships from Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to find the Northwest Passage.

Environment Minister John Baird held a news conference over the summer to announce the contribution of $75,000 to help Grenier find the two ships.

Well this morning, Parks Canada said Grenier has returned and is ready to give an update on his expedition.

Tim Duboyce

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe was evasive when asked by a reporter to wade into one of the province's most passionate perennial debates: where is the true birthplace of poutine?

Duceppe visited a dairy farm in Warwick, Que., one of three communities that claim to be home to the classic recipe of french fries, cheese curds and gravy. The other two pretenders to the crown for Quebec's most famous contribution to fast food cuisine are nearby Victoriaville and Drummondville.

Duceppe appeared amused but uncomfortable with the question, as a number of farmers from Warwick listened carefully to his answer, which he gave in English.

Who invented poutine?

Emmanuel Marchand

Third-year graphic design students at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) find election posters from all parties are banal and lack vision.

Not only are the posters ugly, without depth or message, they say; they visually pollute our streets!

So, they came up with their own.

Seems some Calgarians were a bit miffed that one Stephen Harper (see Canada; Prime Ministers of) had visited pretty much all of this country so far in campaign '08, but not his adopted southern Alberta city.

Paul Hunter

Out to greet him at the airport, ostensibly a la Beatles at JFK in '64, a huge crowd. Well, a couple hundred anyway.

Or so reporters were told.

Journos were held on board the plane during the tarmac festivities, save the TV pool crew, print photogs and a single print reporter.

Apparently there was lotsa handshaking going on.

Spotted in funky leathers and a shiny helmet aboard her heavy duty rock-out black and red motorcycle in the parking lot after Stephen Harper's rally in Edmonton Thursday night: Harper's one-time boss — and now retired MP — Deb Gray.

Paul Hunter

A favourite for many a reporter during her time in Ottawa, she chatted awhile with some old fourth estate friends then spun off into the night.

There's life after politics after all.

Who knew!

It seems the last questions at the varying political events during the campaign are bringing out some of the most interesting answers.

Sylvia Thomson

Well, it happened again today.

This time it wasn’t at one of the leaders’ daily "message," "process" or "repositioning" events. It was in a regular classroom at the University of British Columbia where masters of journalism students gathered to participate in a candidate debate for the tight, four-way contest that is Vancouver Centre. And it caused a bit of a stir.

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics, someone once said.

James Cudmore

Organizers of Stephen Harper's Edmonton rally Thursday night were expecting 2,000 Conservative supporters to attend. In fact, 2,000 supporters had registered to attend.

But as any good house party host knows, always invite more than you want, 'cause some folks just won't come. And that was the case in Edmonton Thursday. The hall was only about three-quarters full.

Stephen Harper made his first stop of the campaign in Alberta tonight, giving a speech before a few hundred people (only one of them fainted) at a rally in Edmonton.

Paul Hunter

During the seemingly endless drives to and from Edmonton's airport (some say it's actually closer to Calgary) the general consensus among the experts (i.e., reporters) was that any leader who promises to build an airport closer to Edmonton would win in a landslide.

(Bring back the Muni!)

Stéphane Dion did not take the Air Inuit flight from Trois-Rivières, Que., to Toronto with his national tour on Thursday evening.

Susan Bonner

He drove instead to Montreal to tape an enormously popular and often hilarious French television show in Quebec, Tout le monde en parle.

He missed a few laughs here on the plane.

Shortly after takeoff an announcement was made by a John McCallum (Liberal finance critic) impersonator. It was a funny take on the Liberal attacks on Stephen Harper's handling of the economy.

At Jack Layton's town hall in Victoria today, a question from someone who can't vote, but sure would like to.

Rosemary Barton

His name: Ben. And he is just 11.

Ben asked the NDP leader this: does the NDP have any plans to let children vote?

Well, said Layton, we are for lowering the voting age, but we're only going down to 16. But, he said, jokingly, we might consider revising that.

The last time Trois-Rivières was held by the Liberals was 1980.

Alison Crawford

The Progressive Conservatives won the riding twice before the Bloc Québécois took it over in 1993. They've held it ever since.

Even so, you'd think more than 75 Liberals would show up to greet Stéphane Dion, especially on a warm, gorgeous fall day that tempted even me to "call in sick."

Enthusiastic Liberals, yes. Numerous, no.

Gilles Duceppe has the support of not one but two past and present leaders of the Parti Québécois.

Tim Duboyce

Earlier Thursday, PQ head Pauline Marois delivered an energized speech to 800 students at the University of Montreal (as you may have read about in a previous byte). Tonight, Duceppe was greeted by Bernard Landry, the former leader of the PQ and premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003.

Landry attended an evening cocktail rally in Duceppe's Montreal riding. The two spoke briefly, and then Landry offered reporters his analysis of the election campaign so far.

He says the Bloc will fare well on Oct. 14, because sovereigntists will not abandon the party to vote for a federalist option. Landry believes that Stephen Harper's parliamentary motion which recognizes the Québécois form a nation is smoke and mirrors, because at the end of the day, Quebec still enjoys, as he put it, "the same status in confederation as Prince Edward Island."

As reporters on tour we travel all over the country, but very rarely do we actually see much. Or know exactly what we're seeing.

Rosemary Barton

So imagine my surprise when we boarded our bus in Victoria and our driver, Kingsley (British accent included) proceeded to point out all that a visitor would like to know about Victoria.

The Gulf Islands, the pumpkin patches, the blackberry bushes, Elk Lake (the Olympic rowing team practices there).

For instance, did you know that Victoria has less than 20 inches of rain a year?

As a total aside, Kingsley says he used to work for the CBC.

As the NDP tour rolled up on the tarmac of Victoria's airport this afternoon (in our temporary Dash-8, necessary for landing in Kamloops), the only thing anyone noticed was the Conservative plane parked nearby.

Rosemary Barton

The potential of a run-in between the leaders before the debate!

The symbolism of it!

The tense moment!

The polite avoidance of one another or the stiff handshake!

Why, it would be a TV story all its own! Most certainly, the most remarkable and dramatic blog entry yet.

The Conservative leader's tour literally rolled through Tory candidate Gary Lunn's riding today. The bus carrying journalists was on the way to the airport after an event at a pretty harbourside hotel in Victoria.

James Cudmore

Someone had used a black pen to draw a small moustache and goatee on Lunn's picture. They also added some hair to the top of Lunn's normally well-coiffed 'do.

Now, at this point, I should add that defacing campaign signs is not that uncommon an electoral event. It happens.

Jack Layton went to Nijjler's home in Kamloops, B.C., today for a photo-op.

Rosemary Barton

But Jack and Jack (note: I call him Mr.Layton) met to talk gas prices.

You see, Nijjler and his family own a shuttle service. They transport people to and from the airport and the ski hill and so they notice when the price of gas jumps. It goes up and their profits go down, which to the Nijjler's is a big deal given eight members of the family work for the company.

Few things are more amusing on campaign tours than watching the police sniffer dog each time all the people traveling with the Prime Minister need to board the campaign jet.

Paul Hunter

But typically — since this crowd is generally law-abiding — the dog never zeroes in on anything.

Not so this week.

The good people who dress up the locales for Stephen Harper's announcements, events and rallies try to think of everything.

Paul Hunter

And of course that includes directing the view for photographers.

That's why when you see side-angle photos of the Prime Minister at one of these things, there's usually a giant Canadian flag framing him on the far wall or a big Conservative sign. They've been specifically placed there by the advance team which in turn ropes off an area for photographers on the near side to ensure that it all lines up on-brand for them.

As expected, Stephen Harper turned up the volume on Jack Layton this week in British Columbia. Conservatives are worried disaffected Liberal voters in B.C. will vote for New Democrats Oct. 14, instead of moving to the Tories, which could stall Harper's march toward a possible majority.

Paul Hunter

But as he disses the Layton crowd, Harper's challenge is differentiating for B.C. voters between the federal and provincial wings of the New Democratic Party. Federal Tories see B.C. New Democrats as ideological friendlies in many ways, but eye the federal Layton-led variety with venom.

There's been plenty of buzz about viral media in this fall's election campaign. Some of it cruel, some of it funny, and some of it pretty darn effective in getting people's attention.

But it's not just the national campaigns who are using it.

Check out these videos from Sean Godfrey, the Liberal candidate in Oshawa. They're a clever spoof of some of the smartest agency ads on TV — the 'I'm a PC-I'm a Mac' series.

The pundits see Godfrey finishing third in his riding, likely stuck behind a tight dogfight between the incumbent Tory MP Colin Carrie and a serious NDP challenger (and former CAW president) Mike Shields.

But his acting? Not bad for a pediatrician.

For the second time in two days, a Conservative supporter who'd volunteered to be part of the human backdrop for Stephen Harper's morning policy announcements has fainted in the line of duty.

Paul Hunter

Harper — in mid-sentence while answering a question from a reporter at the time — didn't realize what was happening behind him and finished his thoughts as the poor fellow lay on the floor.

Who's the bravest man in politics?

Well, next Monday, it might be Gerry Ritz.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture is hosting a national debate on agriculture issues on Sept. 29. CPAC (the Cable Parliamentary Affairs Channel) has agreed to televise it, live. And guess which now-infamous twosome will be squaring off (along with representatives of the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Green Party, of course)?

Ritz and Liberal Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter.

As the notice I was forwarded from an agricultural organization says, "a lot of farmers would rather visit the dentist than listen to politicians for a couple of hours." But even during harvest season, perhaps a few might spare the time this year. Plenty more of us without dirt under our fingernails will be checking it out too.

Bloc Québécois Leader, Gilles Duceppe, was confronted by his first heckler of the election campaign today.

Tim Duboyce

"What are you going to do about equal rights for parents?" the man shouted in French, cutting Duceppe off in mid-sentence.

The protester with the group Fathers for Justice was quietly escorted from the room, but not before Duceppe quickly retorted, "We'll get there," to wild applause from the crowd.

Chris Hall

The NDP and Conservatives are waging close battles in a number of ridings in British Columbia. That's why Stephen Harper and Jack Layton are both in the province today.

They're targeting many of the same seats. They're both trying to poach from the same collection of disaffected Liberal voters.

What's odd is that Harper and Layton are also pitching the same message today.

So, for everyone following this campaign closely, a pop quiz.

Despite all political parties using the internet like never before, they are failing to reach young voters, a new poll says.

Emmanuel Marchand

This shows the parties are using the internet badly, according to the Dominion Institute, which conducted the online poll.

In the U.S. campaign, the parties devoted lots of resources to new media.

Just look at Obama’s war room where several employees work full-time on the internet campaign.

Two noteworthy one-time leaders of the Quebec sovereignty movement brushed alongside the bow of Gilles Duceppe's campaign tour in Montreal this morning.

Tim Duboyce

Then, only moments later, once Duceppe had arrived in front of election headquarters for his riding, another spotting of a former party leader: ex-PQ boss André Boisclair drove by in a brand new silver Audi, honking as he waved to several reporters he recognized, his trademark toothy grin glimmering.

Neither man has come out to support Duceppe and the Bloc in this election campaign.

Following up on my colleague James Cudmore's several blog entries about Conservative staffers and the RCMP removing dissenters, keeping protesters at bay and blocking reporters from talking to local candidates — I thought I'd report that these incidents are providing fodder for Stéphane Dion.

Alison Crawford

Dion highlighted how, unlike his opponent, he has been holding open town hall meetings across the country, taking all questions from anyone without a safety net. He said Harper just can't do it, "he can't stand talking to people who don't share his right-wing opinions."

Dion accused Harper of using the RCMP to hide from the media, that he hides from Canadians and lives in a bubble.

Picture the scene: a room full of grey-haired Conservative supporters. Stephen Harper, on his game, the stump speech seeming to pass his lips without breath or effort.

James Cudmore

Now, picture a dissenter. A lone voice in the crowd, at the back of the room of course, calling out just after Harper finished reminding his partisans of all the debt the government has paid down since the Conservatives took office ($40 billion): "Yah, but what about the other 500?"

No one is precisely sure what the man said, because within about three seconds, the man had been unceremoniously grabbed from behind and propelled out through the convention hall door by a man wearing a Conservative party identification tag.

Jack Layton got a warm reception at a town hall in Kamloops, B.C., tonight. It was held at Thompson Rivers University, a new facility that sits atop a windy road and gives the most spectacular view of the city.

Rosemary Barton

The crowd was large — 400 is the combined guess of pool reporters — and diverse: families, seniors and students.

Layton seems to like these town halls. He holds the mic a la Phil Donahue and works the room. He takes questions from pretty much anyone who has one.

The answers are — well — standard. At least, if you follow him every day they are.

At the end of a lengthy answer to a question Wednesday in Vancouver about his approach to guiding Canada's economy, Stephen Harper said the following:

Paul Hunter

"You know, I would say to Canadians this: I'm more than aware of my deficiencies and some of the imperfections of our government but we are in a time of history where Canadians and Canada needs somebody and a government that is realistic and is hard-headed and will get things done and will keep things on track and that's what I am going to do."

Deficiencies? Imperfections? He did not elaborate.

At the end of Stephen Harper's rally in Surrey, B.C., Tuesday night, reporters moved en masse toward Dona Cadman, one of the many local Conservative candidates who had been standing on stage with the Conservative leader, acting as a backdrop during his speech.

Paul Hunter

They wanted to ask her questions about the continuing controversy around her late husband Chuck, a former Conservative and Independent MP. There are allegations that shortly before his death, he'd been approached with a bribe to rejoin the Conservatives, at a time when doing so might have helped bring down the then-Liberal government.

But Cadman and the other candidates bee-lined for a side-door.

Then, as reporters closed in, some reporters say the RCMP officers assigned to protect Harper physically prevented the journalists from getting near any of the local candidates. And very quickly they were gone with nary a question posed.

Election campaigns have teams of people at the ready to adjust metaphors, turns of phrase or broader themes that are used by leaders in their speeches out on the trail.

Susan Bonner

For the last few days one of the lines garnering the best reaction for Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion had been the one he uses to attack the Conservatives' $45-million cuts to culture funding.

Dion has been saying "there is more culture in a box of yogurt than in the Conservative government."

The crowd mostly cheers, but some people have raised their eyebrows at the idea of a box of yogurt.

Gilles Duceppe earned himself a surprising new nickname among some of the reporters covering his campaign tour after he presented some elements in the Bloc's law and order policy agenda.

Tim Duboyce

During a speech before the Montreal Board of Trade (though the truth be told the room was stacked with Bloc supporters, judging by the number of fervent rounds of applause, and relative lack of business suits), Duceppe outlined a series of measures he believes would help crack down on crime: outlawing the public display of symbols which identify the wearer as a member of an organized criminal gang; stiffer sentences for those convicted of using a weapon in the commission of a crime; and, the elimination of automatic release after one-sixth of a sentence for good behaviour.

Rosemary Barton

This has been one crazy day aboard "Kitchen Air" — and its offspring (we'll get to that).

After leaving Kenora, Ont., the NDP campaign flew to Winnipeg. But only briefly, to file stories.

Most reporters (including this one) did not leave the plane.

It was then wheels-up to Calgary, where, after a quick scrum, we all boarded Kitchen Air Jr. en route to Kamloops, B.C.

Kitchen Air Jr. is a Bombardier Dash 8 plane, meaning there just isn't room for everyone and everything.

Denyse Dion says she won't get involved in this election. The 79-year-old mother of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion says she'll leave the campaigning to her son, daughter and grand-daughter.

Emmanuel Marchand

She says she has seen many politicians come through her living room to meet her late husband but has never seen one who was happy. Dion’s husband, Léon Dion, was a renowned professor and an adviser to many Quebec politicians. He never ran for office himself.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe took a unique approach to getting his campaign message out this morning.

Tim Duboyce

Media were allowed into the meeting room where delegates from all of the FTQ's various sections were meeting. But only to capture images of Duceppe's arrival, and the standing ovation union members offered the Bloc leader. Once the actual speech began, all reporters and TV crews were politely asked to leave the room, and the doors were closed.

The Liberal and Conservative campaign planes are parked side-by-side on the tarmac in Vancouver today.

Susan Bonner

The Conservatives and NDP will stay in battleground B.C. for the next day or two.

With 36 seats here and three or four way races in many ridings, the tarmac here will likely see such plane pairings at least one more time in this campaign.

Stephen Harper made an unusually direct plea to his supporters at the end of a speech in Surrey, B.C., last night.

Paul Hunter

So, his words to the crowd:

"Friends I know you're all working hard, I encourage you to keep working hard. We are in an interesting time — it's like the stock market, the polls bounce up and down every day.

Quebec pollster, Jean-Marc Léger, wrote a guide in today’s Journal de Montréal on how to survive one of the “most boring campaigns in history.” He lists 10 points to understand Quebec voting trends:

The Conservatives have been gaining points across the country and is close to a majority. He needs to win a dozen seats in Ontario and Quebec, as well as a handful in the Atlantic provinces to get there.
The Conservatives currently have 11 seats in Quebec. According to polls right now they can expect to score more than 20 seats, especially in the regions.
The latest polls show the Conservatives are making gains on the island of Montreal. That means it is now a race between three parties (Bloc, Conservative, and Liberal).
The Bloc vote is the most solid of the three. At the start of the campaign they were polling at 30 per cent. They are now up to 32 per cent. Only the Bloc, Léger says, can stop the Conservatives in the regions of Quebec.

Lighting is an important part of any election campaign. Big flood lights that are positioned at strategic angles.

Rosemary Barton

But Jack Layton was only about half-way through his stump speech in Kenora when the lights went out. He had just got to the part about challenges that lie ahead.

When, poof — darkness.

It didn't phase Layton.

How do you know you're in Northern Ontario?

Rosemary Barton

Yes, a bear.

Thankfully, a friendly bear who then proceeded to lumber off from the hotel towards — another bear!

Yes, another bear.

No one was hurt, but the hotel did see fit to post signs warning guests of bear sightings.

Toto, we're not in Ottawa anymore.

There was indeed another Harold Albrecht moment on the Conservative campaign today. This time it was in Surrey, B.C., at a huge Stephen Harper rally.

James Cudmore

Journalists traveling with the Conservative leader's tour were anxious to speak to them. But it seems the leader's tour was less anxious to allow them to be spoken to.

Harper's communication staff rushed the candidates off the stage and through a backdoor, conveniently also the door Stephen Harper was to exit through and thus protected by a phalanx of RCMP officers.

Stéphane Dion had his first encounter with one of Canada’s most (in my opinion) grating celebrity interviewers tonight.

Alison Crawford

Now for those of you who don’t watch MuchMusic, Nardwuar has an unusual and some might say, irritating style of interviewing. That said, it was his question to Jean Chrétien about whether he supported the pepper spraying of APEC protesters that elicited the famous response, “For me, pepper, I put it on my plate.”

Stephen Harper, for the first time this campaign, went straight after the NDP.

James Cudmore

Throughout his speech, Harper talked about the "Ottawa NDP," and said they were out of touch with B.C.

Controlling the message by controlling candidates has become a preoccupation of the Conservative war room. For good reason.

Unscripted remarks hurt the party in both the 2004 and 2006 campaigns.

So far, the discipline seems to have paid off (if you ignore comments by staffers and, er, the odd minister made before the campaign began).

A glimpse into why that may be the case: Today in London West, the affable Edwin Holder, Conservative candidate, sat down for a lengthy interview with CBC News. But before the tape was rolling a campaign official announced that Holder would not answer any questions pertaining to the policy planks being unveiled in the national campaign.

Instead, the reporter would be referred to the "appropriate people" (presumably at campaign HQ) who could answer those types of questions. Holder could, however, talk feely about local issues affecting the riding.

Here's the election as heard by the applause meter in Montreal at the concert against the Conservative cuts to culture:

Rosemary Barton

Completely unscientific.

Gilles Duceppe: wild applause and loud cheering of "Duceppe."

Jack Layton: loud clapping, potentially the most applause, tempered by the occasional boo.

Denis Coderre: loud, loud boos and hisses.

Conservatives: not present and so, unmeasured.

Stéphane Dion's aides are always excited about events at universities.

The turnout is usually good, the enthusiasm high. The former professor, Dion, loves the energy and says in his heart he will always be a teacher.

Susan Bonner

Tonight in Vancouver the hall was indeed packed and the crowd friendly.

While waiting for the leader to show up organizers raffled off some prizes: Dion cups from his leadership bid. But to win you had to answer a political skill-testing question.

Who was the only Liberal leader who never became prime minister? The answer is Edward Blake. One or two students shouted out the answer.

Many more mumbled there would soon be one more.

Earlier today Stephen Harper suggested that ordinary Canadians would understand the cuts his government made to the culture.

Rosemary Barton

And he suggested "ordinary Canadians" might not understand rich people (referring to artists) sitting around complaining about their lack of grants.

Well, at a concert in Montreal tonight a clear response from one artist.

Actor Vincent Gratton's message to Harper: "I'm an ordinary person and I'm proud of it."

Politicians of (almost) all sorts attended at least part of a show at Montreal's Club Soda.

Liberals, Bloc, and NDP folks, as well as several Quebec provincial members packed the upper level. No Conservatives to be seen. Before pop star Arianne Moffatt kicked off an energized rock concert by performers angry with the Conservative government's recent cuts in funding for the arts, the biggest political names made their way almost simultaneously to their seats.

Tim Duboyce

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe, and NDP Leader Jack Layton, were ushered by their entourages to two seats just a few feet away from each other.

After a cordial handshake, which quickly evolved into an enthusiastic, smiley, hands-on-each-other's-shoulder photo-op once the camera crews took an interest, Layton quickly found a pack of reporters, and offered an impromptu scrum.

Well-known Quebec comedian Daniel Lemire kicked things off at the concert against cuts to culture in Montreal today.

Rosemary Barton

He joked that he didn't see any Conservative candidates in the room, although he did notice someone with a paper bag on their head.

But the Conservatives weren't Lemire's only target.

Lemire also went after the Liberals. Joking that you know things are bad when "you're hoping Stéphane Dion wins."

It would seem both Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe chose the happening place to be in Montreal tonight.

Both are at the concert against Stephen Harper's $45-million cuts to culture. And, yes, they did have a moment to cross paths.

Rosemary Barton

The two shook hands and even allowed cameras to shoot them.

Of course, then they stayed at opposite ends of the VIP balcony.

This is an election after all.

Tim Duboyce

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe opened fire today against the only MP in Ottawa who won as an independent in the last election.

André Arthur is a former radio shock jock who unseated Bloc MP Guy Côté in the riding of Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier in the 2006 election. His campaign at the time crowned him with the nickname "King Arthur."

Duceppe is taking issue with the fact that Arthur, on top of his duties as a member of Parliament, moonlights in a couple of other jobs.

"The people of Portneuf deserve a full-time MP," Duceppe told reporters in French at a news conference in Quebec City.

Alison Crawford

Stéphane Dion mainstreeted on a fake Main Street today at North Shore Studios in Vancouver.

After a "staged" scrum with reporters on the set of horror/comedy TV show Harper's Island, the Liberal leader walked outside to talk to actors basking in the sun as they waited for auditions. He wished them luck and made small talk.

Mocking and YouTube and elections go hand in hand in hand. Just last week a group of Quebec artists mocked the Conservatives’ views on culture.

Emmanuel Marchand

Trudeau’s introductory video on his website has raised more than a few eyebrows — well, in newsrooms anyway.

His message, in true Trudeau style, very earnest, very bilingual. Trudeau switches between English and French virtually every sentence. Although Trudeau admits he is a politician, he would rather not "waste my time or yours talking about politics."

This past July, Green party activists circulated a letter in the riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, urging members of their party to support either the NDP or the Liberal candidate in the riding. The intent was to prevent splitting the vote in the hope of defeating the Conservative MP, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn.

That plan failed as the Liberals, NDP and Green party all fielded candidates.

Fast forward to this week when it was revealed by the Liberals that the NDP candidate in the riding, Julian West, had gone skinny-dipping in front of teenagers 12 years ago. West was not charged for his actions. Although he admitted being embarrassed by the incident, he said nothing inappropriate occurred and he planned to continue his campaign.

This afternoon in Vancouver, Stéphane Dion will visit a film studio.

Susan Bonner

The crew is taping a show called Harper's Island.

A time-honoured and completely unscientific way to measure the level of support for anyone during any campaign is to note the signage featuring the person's name and affiliation.

Paul Hunter

"Welcome Steve!!"? No.

"Tories Rock Steady!!"? Nope.

Back in the 1993 election then Opposition Leader Jean Chrétien went to the Delta Hotel down the street from Parliament Hill to unveil his party's platform called Creating Opportunities. With its red cover Creating Opportunities became known as The Red Book.

Chris Rands

But in a few days the PCs had their own blue book of policy called A Taxpayer's Agenda."

There was a lot of reaction in Quebec media today to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s promise to toughen sentencing for violent youth crime.

Emmanuel Marchand

Several criminologists and social workers are saying giving teenagers longer prison terms would mean a greater chance those offenders would come out hardened criminals. They say Haper's plan doesn’t deal with the social nuances that lead to criminal behaviour.

Here's a good question: Quick — what's the difference between "majority" and "a strong mandate"?

The former is a word Prime Minister Stephen Harper won't use. The latter is what he's started asking voters to give him come voting day. The phrase started popping up in his stump speeches the past couple or three days.

Ask his communications staff and they'll change the subject. Quickly.

OK not really. At least not yet. But don't tell that to anyone who lives along the lengthy stretch of the Trans-Canada between Ottawa and Dryden, Ont.

Paul Hunter

Thing is, they were empty — save the drivers — because Harper et al were flying into Dryden today, but would need the buses once they got there.

It started well enough. At a town hall in the riding of Calgary-Northeast, a man began his question to Stéphane Dion by saying, "I've never voted Liberal in my life but I'm willing to give it a try."

Alison Crawford

Within seconds though, the man transformed, "Tell me why the Liberal party should be allowed to rape the economy of Alberta, to take our resources like Pierre Elliott Trudeau did under the National Energy Program, to rape our resources and send them back to Ontario, to a bunch of people that don't want to work."

An hour and a half before Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion unveiled his platform this morning Liberal candidates got a sneak peek.

A chance for them to get a jump-start on questions they will likely face in their home ridings in the coming days.

James Fitz-Morris

Some community organizations were also invited to participate by conference call — so we may never know who recorded and then leaked the call.

What we do know is the briefer was Liberal MP John McCallum, who, before deciding to run for politics, was the chief economist of a big bank.

And judging by the answers he provided fellow candidates, McCallum perhaps spent very little time with his communications people.

The Greens say they sense momentum and are predicting big things on election night, but one of their press releases took the prognostications a bit far.

We're still an hour out of Edmonton but I'm already reading a news release quoting what leader Elizabeth May said on the platform and how the crowd reacted.

Talk about jumping the gun.

Gilles Duceppe had to coax one onlooker to shake his hand, as the Bloc leader did a little glad-handing in the crowded, car-free streets of downtown Montreal this afternoon.

Tim Duboyce

The Bloc leader reached out to shake the man's hand, as TV cameras recorded the moment. But, instead of returning the handshake, the man recoiled, and told Duceppe, in English, "I'm not a supporter!"

Duceppe said, "That's OK. We can still shake hands."

He did.

It all happened as Duceppe walked between media interviews during Car Free Day, along Montreal's busy shopping district on Ste-Catherine St.

He was accompanied by several area candidates, including 20-year-old Maxime Clément, who was allowed to vote for the first time in his life in the 2006 federal election, and is running in the West Island district of Lac-Saint-Louis. Around half of the residents in the riding are anglophone, and have voted overwhelmingly for Liberal MPs in the last four elections, the Conservatives coming in a distant second.

Rosemary Barton

Jack Layton made another visit to Montreal today.

On Mont-Royal, with the city in the background, Layton was introduced by his candidate from the riding of Westmount Ville-Marie, former CBC Radio broadcaster Anne Lagacé-Dowson.

Speaking in French, Dowson said, "The next 'premier ministre' of... Quebec, Jack Layton."

Oops.

Much will be made this week of the Elizabeth May Express. But lest the Greens get all the glory for hurtlin' coast to coast on an iron horse, one of Stephen Harper's senior advisors lays claim to plenty of first-hand experience herself at that game.

Paul Hunter

Conservative Senator Marjorey LeBreton, Harper's 2008 campaign co-chair, was just a wee lass back in 1965, helping out on John Diefenbaker's campaign, which — as steel rail enthusiasts will know — was conducted at least in part via train.

Tim Duboyce

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe is spending much of his campaign day on foot in the streets of Montreal.

The city is marking its annual Car-Free Day, when several major streets in the downtown core are blocked to motorized traffic.

Duceppe began with a photo-op as he stepped off a busy métro during the morning rush hour. He's also taking in part of a walk through downtown to mark the event, and while he's there, stopping in at the storefront studios of MusiquePlus to give one of several interviews as part of a media blitz today.

After announcing plans this morning to toughen sentences for young offenders, it was put to Stephen Harper that ten shooting incidents in the Toronto area just this past weekend could be evidence that his efforts on crime so far aren't any more effective than those of previous (Liberal) governments.

Paul Hunter

There has been a lot of talk of sweaters in this campaign.

Rosemary Barton

Janet Evans

Evans says she thinks she paid about $40 for it.

All worth it for Evans, who was wearing it to welcome Jack Layton to Hamilton today.

Chris Brown

Via staff have been helpful — but only to a point. Several Green party campaigners decorated the rear Club Car with Green posters, but were told a few minutes later such overt political symbols are inappropriate for a Crown corporation. They had to to take them down.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May began her journey west from Vancouver last night on board Via Rail. Campaign Manager Jim McDonald says the special Green party car cost about $40,000. That's a lot cheaper than a jet and this election it's also a lot more affordable for the Greens. Their campaign budget is about $4 million, roughly four times what it was in 2006 when the Greens spent about $900,000.

Keith Boag

The green train is away — on time even.

Chris Brown

Indeed, at first glance the Greens may have made a big impression — on people who can't vote! There are 270 people on board and I'd bet most are foreign tourists.

Elizabeth May pulled up to the Pacific Central train station in Vancouver in one of a fleet of black SUVs. But unlike the standard black SUVs you sometimes see the current government using, these were tiny, electric SUVs which looked rather like toys made of corrugated sheet metal.

She jumped out of the lead car to greet her waiting 150 or so supporters and she proudly declared the Green party would get this country "back on track."

Then, using her Green candidates as a backdrop, she said the party now has representatives from coast to coast to coast. That northern coast is new today. Candidate Peter Ittinuar, in Nunavut, just tossed his hat into the ring. He has a history in politics as a Liberal and NDP (he was an MP). However he also has a history of run-ins with the law. In 1986, he was convicted of assaulting his wife and fined. As well, he was convicted in 1979 for possessing a small amount of cocaine.

A week away from a campaign doesn't do any harm at all. In fact, sometimes it can offer new-found perspective.
I've been away from the NDP for a week now.

Rosemary Barton

Now, much has been written about sweaters in the first couple of weeks of this election. I have never been one to read much into sweaters, but I do have a keen eye for fashion choices and this one strikes me as rather telling.

Tim Duboyce

That's where residents are marking the community's annual Festival de la Galette, or traditional crêpe festival.

There's only a few hours before the final submission of nominations must be made to Elections Canada. Monday at two to be exact.

In Toronto Centre there has been a last minute change.

The Conservatives say they've accepted the resignation of Chris Reid. The new Conservative candidate is David Gentili.

Gilles Duceppe had an unexpected encounter today while shaking hands at a walk to raise money to fight AIDS in Montreal.

Tim Duboyce

At one point while each was working the crowd, Tremblay and Duceppe nearly bumped into each other. The two started chatting, and it soon became apparent they have known each other for a long time.

The future of the CBC was brought up on the election trail Saturday.

Stéphane Dion challenged Stephen Harper to "admit he dreams of shutting down the CBC."

Susan Bonner

Dion spoke of a poll the Conservatives were conducting among their own supporters asking people to rate the worthiness of CBC funding.

He said it's a sign of what Conservatives are thinking.

Clear and unequivocal proof Stephen Harper reads Political Bytes!!

Paul Hunter

Back he came, and for several minutes he held a friendly, engaging chat on a range of topics.

It's international night on the NDP plane.

And that meant costumes — silly costumes, mostly involving hats and fake grass skirts and leis made of plastic.

It's been a long week for the NDP tour, with some crazy travel. This, it seems, is the NDP's way of cutting loose.

James Cudmore

There are even rumours Jack Layton might bust out his guitar.

Puff the Magic Dragon, anyone?

It's international night on the NDP plane. And that means costumes — silly costumes, mostly involving hats and fake grass skirts and leis made of plastic.

It's been a long week for the NDP, with some crazy travel and now two candidates leaving in mid-election because of their former ties to Pot TV and the legalize marijuana movement.

International night, it seems, is the NDP way of cutting loose. There are even rumours Jack Layton might bust out his guitar.

Wonder if he might hazard a go at "Puff the Magic Dragon"

Gilles Duceppe sees no contradiction in his quest to persuade federalist voters to choose the Bloc on election day, while attacking Stephen Harper for courting Quebec nationalists.

Harper told La Presse the Conservatives' door is open to nationalists, a position he told the paper is perfectly normal given the Québéecois form a nation.

Duceppe says it would be surprising to hear a party leader say, 'Whatever you do, don't vote for us.'

To the inimitable sound of Stan Rogers's Northwest Passage (as unearthed from his iPod courtesy your agent and as spun by DJ CanWest Dave — as in Aikin) the Harper tour took off for points north this morning.

Paul Hunter

Make that 'point' north. It's a one-stop trip.

But when Harper touches down in Iqaluit this afternoon he'll become the first sitting Prime Minister since 1980 to campaign in Canada's eastern territories.

Much has been written about the new and improved relations between reporters and Stephen Harper's handlers.

And for the most part, that's been the case.

But it seems ever since (coincidence?) the Gerry Ritz Joking-About-Dead-Canadians incident — and this week's polls hinting at a tightening of Harper/Dion numbers in some key Ontario ridings — it's been a little less so.

When the media buses pulled into the parking lot today at the site of a Harper rally in Michel Fortier's Montreal-area riding, all was fine up until a few seconds later when reporters and camera operators were told, "No one's getting off just yet".

Patrick Glemaud is the Conservative candidate for Ottawa-Vanier.

He's also one of the standard-bearers for a party hoping to break new ground with new Canadian voters.

Glemaud is a Haitian Canadian whose family came to Canada when he was 12. He describes his early life as financially hard, with his father on disability insurance.

He worked his way through law school and later worked at community legal services practicing what he calls poverty law. He then went to work for the Department of Justice, where he worked on key environmental files.

Glemaud voted Liberal for many years but he says a short stint as a small business owner helped convince him to move to the Conservatives.

"You start asking yourself some questions. 'What exactly is good for you as a new Canadian?' The result of that calcuation ends up being, well, you have to focus on a political party that addresses our interests."

What's the difference between a plank and a foundation?

During an election campaign apparently quite a bit.

Stéphane Dion was campaigning in rural Manitoba on Friday when he was asked if he was moving away from the "central plank" of his platform, the Green Shift.

It happened after a Stephen Harper rally west of Montreal on Friday. The event featured a crowd of loud — and seemingly well-organized demonstrators trying to disrupt it beforehand — and a camera crew from a Quebec comedy program suspiciously lingering around afterward. Afterwards, RCMP officers couldn't help but notice a young woman meandering about the parking lot awaiting the Prime Minister's departure.

Paul Hunter

After all, she was a) wearing semi-revealing clothing, b) repeatedly shouting out Stephen Harper's name, and c) also saying things like 'It's okay, I'm not going to do anything weird - I like him! I'm from Alberta!'

That, of course, made everyone think this can only be trouble.

Then again, that's the problem police assigned to prime ministers face all the time: how to identify friends from foes. No one wants to go over the top against those who are simply gregarious. Yet, no one wants a pie tossed at a PM on their watch either.

Gilles Duceppe's election tour took him straight into the den of some Grizzlys in Montmagny, Que., this afternoon.

The Grizzlys are the local high school football team. Before watching part of an afternoon game from the grandstands, Duceppe stood along the sidelines of team's brand new home field and shook hands with the players as they skipped past in single file, donning their maroon and white uniforms.

The event surely inspired fond memories for the Bloc Québécois leader, who, it turns out, is not only an avid football fan, he's also an experienced player.

"When I played in a college league, I played offensive end, and sometimes in tough situations as safety," Duceppe told a news conference.

Patrick Glemaud is the Conservative candidate for Ottawa-Vanier. He's also one of the standard-bearers for a party hoping to break new ground with new Canadian voters.

Glemaud is a Haitian-Canadian whose family came to Canada when he was 12. He describes his early life as financially hard, with his father on disability insurance.

He worked his way through law school and later worked at Community Legal Services practicing what he calls "poverty law." He then went to work for the Department of Justice, where he worked on key environmental files.

Glemaud voted Liberal for many years but he says a short stint as a small business owner helped convince him to move to the Conservatives.

After taking Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz to task for making a mid-campaign apology over his remarks during the listeriosis outbreak from the steps of a Parliament Hill building, Political Bytes couldn't help but notice that NDP Leader Jack Layton was on the Hill today to make a campaign announcement on food safety.

Chris Hall

Stéphane Dion spent a good part of Friday trying to add a splash of red to Tory-blue Saskatchewan.

Susan Bonner

The Liberal Green Shift is not popular in the province. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has likened it to the much-loathed National Energy Program of Pierre Trudeau back in the 80s. Saskatchewan is enjoying its new found status as a "have" province thanks to an energy boom. But the premier thinks the Green Shift, which features a carbon tax as well as lower income taxes, will snuff out the province's new-found success.

The former leader of the premier's Saskatchewan party is running for the Conservatives against Goodale. And she could be a contender for a cabinet position if the Conservatives win and Stephen Harper decides to remove the embattled Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminster) from cabinet.

There are protesters outside many of Stephen Harper's rallies. In Ontario, many were members of the Canadian Auto Workers union, upset with job cuts.

Susan Lunn

And the music they played as the Conservative leaders bus pulled up?

Mitsou's hit Bye-Bye Mon Cowboy — a reference to Harper's Alberta roots.

Some Quebec artists are taking their arts funding cuts protest to YouTube.

Emmanuel Marchand

In the dramatization, the Quebec artist has problems convincing an-all English panel of the importance of his project.

It is scathing in its portrayal of the incomprehension of the mock panel towards his craft.

It plays on the English/French divide and the attempts to show the Conservatives as an extreme right-wing party.

The video concludes with a message saying every dollar invested in the arts pays off 11 dollars in direct and indirect economic spinoffs.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe looks spry and energetic today, despite having had an almost sleepless night.

Duceppe flew to Montreal from Rimouski (a 550 km flight) late yesterday, for the taping of the popular talk show Tout le monde en parle, which airs Sunday nights. Duceppe says the taping was delayed by 45 minutes because someone in the studio audience had "an accident" on the set.

He says the taping went on until one in the morning.

Duceppe says he is happy with his performance on the show.

He was back on the campaign trail in Rimouski, first thing Friday morning.

Gilles Duceppe may be facing a frontal assault from ex-members of his own party who say the Bloc has lost its way — but at least one trusted ally remains.

Duceppe is campaigning today in a riding where a former BQ MP is running against the Bloc, because she says Duceppe is not firm enough on the issue of Quebec sovereignty.

However, Duceppe says beginning next week, Parti Québécois leader, Pauline Marois, will start making appearances at Bloc rallies.

Marois was supposed to deliver a speech at the Bloc's campaign launch, but she was forced to cancel at the last minute. Officials at first believed she had come down with food poisoning. However doctors ultimately determined Marois had appendicitis. She was hospitalized for several days and underwent emergency surgery.

Maybe the Liberals have hired an image consultant. Or maybe they need to.

Chris Hall

Quebec's premier has ordered his cabinet ministers to stop attacking the Conservatives. This, the day after Jean Charest, himself, criticized the Tories for not really solving the fiscal imbalance.

Emmanuel Marchand

Just this week Charest's government has also been in a war of words with the government over cuts to arts funding.

Charest said before the campaign started he would not get involved in this election.

Conservatives are saying the attacks are only breathing new life into the Bloc Québecois.

The Liberal campaign made its first trip to a farm this morning. The leader visited a farm in Headingly, Man., just west of Winnipeg.

Susan Bonner

Just two weeks ago in Winnipeg, Dion announced adjustments to the Green Shift plan to deal with concerns from farmers.

Dion will appear with a star candidate — Bob Friesen — a former farmer and one-time head of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. He hopes to win the seat from Conservative Steven Fletcher.

Liberals hold three of Manitoba's 14 seats and only one next door in Saskatchewan.

The Prairies remain a tough sell for the party.

Ever wonder how often Stephen Harper comes to the back of the campaign plane to hang with reporters, trade war stories and just chat?

Paul Hunter

(eg., "So what IS your favourite Beatles song, anyway?")

For the record, so far with Harper, adding up all the instances in both examples and the grand total, including everything, is: once.

And that was when he came to the back of the plane before the first flight on the first day of the campaign.

It lasted about three minutes.

That was 12 days ago.

FYI.

Seen tonight in Drummondville, Que.: Stephen Harper smiling at, and shaking hands with Andre Bachand.

Paul Hunter

How do you know you're campaigning in Quebec?

Susan Lunn

Nope, by the fact that we have St-Hubert chicken on the media bus for supper.

The French-speaking people got back on the bus after a rally in Drummondville, and instantly recognized the smell. The English-speaking reporters, myself included, couldn't figure out why there was so much excitement.

I can say, after having my first St-Hubert experience, I prefer Swiss Chalet.

It must be an English thing.

The Liberal campaign plane is apparently rising from the dead — in more sense than one.

The troublesome generator that caused an unscheduled landing in Montreal on Tuesday is, apparently, now repaired. But there are some questions about where any spare parts may have come from.

The plane is parked on a back tarmac at Pearson airport in Toronto amongst three other planes.

One is from Zoom (the Canadian discount airliner that went out of business last month), one is from XL (the British carrier that shut down last week, stranding hundreds of holiday-goers) — and then there's the Air Kazakhstan, with its demise occurring in 2004.

Watch the company you keep, Mr. Dion.

There's been confusion today, to say the least, about whether yesterday's announcement of $1.9 billion in funding for housing and homelessness should be considered a "campaign spending" announcement by the Conservatives.

The Conservatives say the funding was in the 2008 budget, but not allocated until a cabinet meeting just before the election was called.

And although they've been critical of other parties' billion-dollar spending announcements in these uncertain fiscal times, they deny that this is a billion-dollar bit of campaign candy of their own. Or at least they seemed to be denying this, at first.

Normally this kind of funding allocation would be announced on a Government of Canada press release, with the Human Resources minister's office listed as the contact.

On today's Quebec poll numbers, showing the Conservatives leading the Bloc Québécois for the first time:

"Voting intentions are like Jell-O."

—Jean-Marc Leger, today on Politics with Don Newman.

From Foreign Affairs to Natural Resources, people who work for the government in a number of departments say they've been told not to talk to the media until after the election. As for some of those scheduled to give speeches or public presentations, they say they've been told to submit all texts and materials to their respective public relations departments.

Even a simple call from a reporter to a scientist at Fisheries and Oceans about the growing global problem of "dead zones" in the ocean was told not to expect an interview until after October 14th. When the reporter appealed to the public relations officer, the answer was still "no" in order to maintain "impartiality."

Two other bureaucrats from different departments say their instructions came verbally, from superiors who had received e-mail directives from "the top." The bureaucrats suspect it is a coordinated effort to prevent those written instructions from ending up in the hands of journalists.

Gilles Duceppe is skipping out on his own campaign tour for a few hours tonight to fly to Montreal for an appearance on one of the most-watched television shows in Quebec.

Tout Le Monde En Parle (Everyone's Talking About It) is a talk show which airs every Sunday night on CBC's French-language service, Radio-Canada, but is taped on Thursdays. Duceppe will be among an eclectic lineup of personalities, including singer Dan Bigras, Montreal Canadiens' head coach Guy Carbonneau, and Sister Marie-Paul Ross, a nun who is also a sex therapist.

Gilles Duceppe's election tour swung terribly close to the border — with the rest of Canada.

The Bloc leader is campaigning on the southern coast of the Gaspé Peninsula. The only thing dividing this area of Quebec from New Brunswick is Baie-des-Chaleurs, which lets out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

This morning, Duceppe held a news conference on the docks at Carleton-sur-Mer, a fishing village where unemployment is high and many people work in seasonal industries like the fisheries and tourism.

With a backdrop of the bay and the red cliffs of northern New Brunswick in the distance, Duceppe decried the federal government's employment insurance scheme which he says cheats workers of the benefits they need to live here all year round.

A new poll in Quebec suggests the Conservatives and the Bloc are in a tight battle for popular support. The latest Léger Marketing poll was published in the Journal de Montreal.

Emmanuel Marchand

It was quite the GO train ride from Hamilton to Toronto this morning. One car was taken over by the Liberal campaign.

Susan Bonner

Eleven candidates in total made a part of the ride with the leader, taking turns sitting beside Dion, in front of the cameras. At the last stop before Toronto, deputy leader Michael Ignatieff boarded the train to the biggest applause.

It was one of the better organized Liberal campaign events to date and harkened back to the more successful whistle stop Liberal campaigns of the past.

When the train pulled into Toronto's Exhibition Station, it was greeted by all Toronto Liberal candidates.

This will be the first time the leader will appear at an event with both Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff.

Late last night the Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz, made a public apology for what he called ''callous and inappropriate'' remarks during the listeriosis outbreak.

Ritz joked in a conference call with bureaucrats and staff that the political fallout from the outbreak was like death by a thousand cuts, ''or should I say cold cuts."

The comments were reported late yesterday.

A few hours later the Parliamentary Press Gallery sent out a notice to journalists saying Ritz would make a statement on the front steps of the Confederation Building on Parliament Hill.

Ritz was accompanied by Mike Storeshaw, normally a senior aide to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, but who is now working in the Conservative war room.

At the start of the campaign, a note went out from the Speaker's office to remind MPs that Parliament Hill is not to be used for election purposes during the campaign.

It was a crazy night for reporters on the Conservative bus last night. First news broke about the inappropriate comments from Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

Then there was a suggestion the federation of Canadian Municipalities released a Conservative campaign announcement early.

At one point, a senior party official was telling reporters, "wait, this just in," as he read from his Blackberry. One reporter looked outside the bus and saw a bright, full moon shining over Saguenay, and said, "that explains it."

The next full moon, will be on October the 14th, election night.

That left one Conservative to say, "I hope it's a different kind of feeding frenzy that night."

The sun is out and spirits are high among Liberal organizers on the campaign's national tour. The leader heads to Toronto on the GO Train, media in tow.

The story might have been "will there be a breach for the other parties in fortress Toronto?" The Liberals hold all but three of the 22 seats in the country's largest city. The NDP is the other federal presence.

But the story now looks more likely to be the fallout from the third Conservative apology since the campaign began — hello, Gerry Ritz.

Dion will make his first comments on that. He'll be joined by the man who came second in the leadership race, Michael Ignatieff.

It will be Ignatieff's first national appearance in this campaign.

After Tuesday night's nail-biter on the Liberal leader's plane, which made an unscheduled landing in Montreal after an on-board generator failed, it was the Bloc leader's turn for some landing strip drama on Wednesday night.

Gilles Duceppe's Convair 580 turboprop required two tries to land at Bonaventure Airport on the southern Gaspe coast after a short hop from Baie-Comeau.

There was a tense moment on board as the plane rocked back and forth as it hit heavy turbulence during final descent. At the last minute, about 500 feet from the tarmac, the pilot suddenly gunned the twin engines of the craft, veering back up into the sky, before turning the plane back in the direction of the runway.

Turns out, the young man in Toronto who was nabbed near a Jack Layton rally allegedly had a gun.

So, where was Layton during all this?

He'd already left. And police say the arrest had nothing to do with Layton's event.

Brian Mulroney may have left his hometown of Baie-Comeau a long time ago, but in this St. Lawrence seaside town, he is not forgotten — not even by Bloc Québécois members.

Gilles Duceppe made a whistlestop in Baie-Comeau, delivering a speech to about 100 BQ supporters at Le Manoir, the unctuous-yet-rustic hotel where Mulroney was camped out the night his Progressive Conservatives swept into power in 1984.

Some of Duceppe's followers have only favourable memories of the former prime minister. As the Bloc leader worked the room, preparing to take to the mic and tout the necessity for Quebec independence, at least two gentlemen in the crowd were all too ready to tip their hats to Mulroney's legacy as leader of Canada.

If you're the sort of person inclined to punch a police officer, our very best suggestion here at Political Bytes is not to do it. And certainly not do it right around the corner from a Jack Layton rally.

But some people just never listen.

The NDP leader held a rally in Toronto's sometimes troubled Davenport riding.

Everywhere Layton goes, these days, he's escorted by an RCMP protective detail. The higher risk the event, or neighbourhood, the larger the size of the detail — and the more support they get from local police officers.

And this event, on a stretch of Bloor West, was considered a little more risky than most events.

No fewer than four uniformed Toronto police officers were on hand — three of them on bicycles. All of this, on top of the already bigger RCMP detail, and plainclothes Toronto police officers.

It is highly unlikely the Chuck Cadman affair will be played out in court during the election campaign.

A hearing set for Sept. 22 has been adjourned indefinitely after a judge ruled that it can't proceed without key evidence — namely, independent expert opinion on whether the audio tape interview between Stephen Harper and author Tom Zytaruk was doctored.

That expert opinion is critical because the tape is at the crux of the case. Harper was seeking an injunction to stop the tape from being used by the Liberals on the grounds that it was doctored.

The judge said he will set a deadline for the experts' reports (TBA) and look at the calendar and other considerations before setting a date for the hearing.

Wednesday afternoon Jason Kenney — Conservative candidate, and frequent party spokesperson — held a news conference in the National Press Theatre, across the street from Parliament Hill.

Kenney had booked the room to criticize Liberal candidate Bob Rae's record when he was premier of Ontario in the early 1990s.

Rae has joined Stéphane Dion on his national tour this week.

But while the anglophone reporters were asking Kenney about his message, francophone journalists were asking him pointedly about a statement he made to a Montreal newspaper. Kenney is quoted calling the Bloc Québécois intolerant against ethnic diversity and Western Canadians.

It's not every day you see a Conservative sporting a Bob Rae button. This one was different though — orange on top and red on the bottom, "Go for Bob, Go for Broke".

Jason Kenney called today's news conference at the National Press Theatre. Strange, considering the Conservative party has its own high-tech broadcast bunker in suburban Ottawa. But Kenney said he wanted to save reporters a $20 cab ride.

The purpose of today's announcement? To attack the record of former Ontario NDP Premier Bob Rae and criticize Stéphane Dion's judgment in choosing Rae to help craft the Liberal party platform.

Kenney says it appears Dion wants to do to Canada what Rae did to Ontario. He then walked reporters through the recession of the early 1990s, accusing Rae of raising taxes, losing Ontario jobs and driving the province into deep deficit.

When it was time for reporters to ask questions, Macleans columnist Paul Wells started by pointing out how the past is a goldmine.

It was a seemingly perfect photo-op. Stephen Harper was about to announce plans for a small tax break for first-time homebuyers and his staff had arranged for him to do a walk-though in a partly-constructed home with a young couple who — reporters were led to believe — were the actual first-time homebuyers of this particular home. Exactly the kind of people Harper’s announcement was supposed to benefit. After all, why else would they be showing off the place to the Prime Minister?

Well as it turns out, they were not the owners of that home. Yes, they’d just bought a house, by the same developer, somewhere — but not this one. The couple was in truth more tourist, than tour guide; not that the facts should get in the way of a good photo-op.

Imagine the moment: you’re a corner store operator somewhere between Kitchener Ont., and Niagara Falls.

It’s sometime Tuesday and all’s quiet until a giant blue bus pulls up outside. Soon enough out pop all kinds of sunglass-wearing concealed-weapon-carrying RCMP officers, surrounding a slightly-graying intense-looking fellow who looks ever so slightly familiar. He may or may not have been wearing a pale blue pullover.

They all walk into your store and he says something like “Hi, I’m Stephen Harper. I’d like some Cotton Candy Blunt, a grape Cigarillo and some chocolate please. Oh — and your support on October 14th!”

The report of Stéphane Dion's jet losing power from one of its generators last night had me remembering.
Flash back eight years to the 2000 election campaign.

Both the Stockwell Day and Jean Chrétien campaigns were using Boeing 737s very similar to Dion's. They were from Canadian Airlines, which was in the process of merging with Air Canada.

On the night of October 25 Chretien's plane lost power in one of its generators and made an unscheduled landing in Quebec City. Pictures from that night show the cabin in darkness as it came in to land.

Once on the ground, Chrétien came back to the reporters in his shirt sleeves and joked: "We decided to land on one wing."

A press gallery veteran called out "Does this count as a Prime Ministerial gaffe?"

It didn't take long for Stephen Harper to notice Bob Rae's suddenly higher profile on the Stéphane Dion campaign. Just one day after Rae's big speech to re-energize Liberals yesterday and Harper has already worked Rae (a former Ontario NDP premier) into his daily attacks on the Liberal platform. Here's a line from Harper's q&a with reporters this morning near Niagara Falls:

“In this province in the 1990s Bob Rae and the NDP took a slowdown and turned it into the biggest recession since the 1930s.”

Toronto-Centre Liberal MP Bob Rae was at it again this morning warming up the crowd before his boss spoke.

Rae opened his short speech to students at the University of Western Ontario by saying this:

"I was up for most of the night drinking beer, yakking with friends and not quite sure what bed I was going to end up in. Anybody here that can relate to that?"

Rae, of course, was referring to the close to four hours he spent sitting on the grounded Liberal plane in Montreal with Stéphane Dion, his staff and members of the national media.

Liberal staff were at first trying to find a hotel to spend the night in Montreal — but learned it's not easy to book 50 rooms with no notice.

In the end, a second plane come through to bring the group to the planned destination of London.

It's not clear how Rae thinks UWO students spent their evening.

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe took a pleasant walk along the sandy beach just outside Sept-Iles this morning. He was with a waterfront homeowner, Roland Ferguson, who is upset over shoreline erosion along the St. Lawrence River which he says is gradually eating away his property.

After the beachfront stroll in the otherwise idyllic setting, with the rising buttes of the seven islands that are the city's namesake back-drop, Duceppe demanded Ottawa provide compensation to people whose land is being etched away by sea tides.

One reporter, suspecting the announcement was more about giving TV crews a pretty setting for a press conference then about serious demands to Ottawa, asked why Duceppe was even bothering to campaign in this riding.

Jean-Marc Léger, president of the polling firm Léger Marketing, says the Conservatives will form the next government but Quebecers will be the ones to decide if they will have a minority or a majority.

He also says what will tilt it one way or the other will be the debate.

The Tories have only won a majority of seats in Quebec three times in the last 100 years — in 1958 with Diefenbaker and with Mulroney in 1984 and 1988.

But few know that francophones were Conservative first before going Liberal.

The Bloc Québécois is losing its support among 18-25-year olds, according to an Innovative Research Group poll published in La Presse.

Only 27 per cent of young people in that group say they will vote Bloc this time around. That's almost half the support they got in the 2006 campaign. Two years ago, they were polling at 47 per cent in that age group.

The poll was commissioned by the Dominion Institute. The groups says this is a dramatic shift.

So where are youth putting their vote here in Quebec?

Camera crews and photographers were not allowed to capture images of Stephane Dion leaving his broken down plane Tuesday night.

Dion's staff broke the pool protocol that crews leave the plane first to be in place to take pictures

Oh. My. God.
Like, ohmigod.
I'm at, like this hotel?
And I'm like, outside, and it's soooo, like 10 PM.
And there's like, all these girls with cameras, like, hanging around outside. Like 20 of them!

Two hours after the unexpected landing, Stephane Dion stopped working and walked back to talk to reporters.

He apoligized for the technical delay.

The place: Alma, Que., the traditional 'heartland' of the Quebec sovereignty movement, but where Conservative cabinet minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn is defending his seat after a surprise breakthrough in 2006.

The bar: L'Espion, on the main drag. (Themed after James Bond 007 films, movie posters galore inside)

Speech nerds (i.e. reporters) covering the Stephen Harper campaign couldn't help but notice a new word has popped into his stump speech lexicon: Green — with a capital G, as in "party."

Indeed, for the first eight days of the campaign, you'd not know such an organization existed if you listened only to Harper speaking at his evening rallies.

Then last night, and again Tuesday night, there it was. Suddenly Harper is now specifically lumping Elizabeth May & Co. along with Liberals, New Democrats and the Bloc as, the way Harper would have it, tunnel-visioned tax-and-spenders.

What a difference the debate over the debate seems to have made.

When speaking at what was billed as a round table discussion with representatives of multicultural media outlets near Toronto, Stephen Harper began things with an opening statement, which in part included his view on Liberals, Conservatives and immigration.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I’m often perplexed by the myth that the Conservative party is opposed to immigration and the Liberal party has been for it. The statistics do not bear this out.

“I think if I could, ladies and gentlemen, maybe put forward to you a little theory about that. And I think it’s important.

People are now standing around telling their worst-ever plane stories.

The winner: Bob Rae.

He just recounted a harrowing story of an emergency evacuation of a plane he was on — shoes off, slide down the chutes, the whole bit — on a flight from Belfast to Manchester in 1974.

Police later discovered a bomb on board.

Marc Beaudoin is the pilot of the Liberal flight. He is a former bush pilot with some three decades of experience.

We are still on the tarmac in the plane.

Stéphane Dion never left his seat. Most people are mingling in the aisles. The crew is busy with trays of drinks.

The Liberal leader has not moved.

Following is a note from Peter Mansbridge to Susan Bonner, who was on the diverted Liberal flight that landed in Montreal Tuesday night:

I'm sure everyone is a little freaked by your lights on lights off situation and the diverted flight.

It reminds me of a situation on the '79 campaign flight of Joe Clark's. We'd just left Toronto on the way to Charlottetown when I heard a strange "pop" … I was sitting beside one of the two engines of the chartered Air Canada DC-9 and I turned to my cameraman, Dave Hall, and said "get your camera ready, I'm sure we just lost an engine." He did and we had.

Sure enough, a few minutes later the pilot came on and outlined the problem and that we were heading back to Toronto for an emergency one-engine landing. I won't name names, but there were more than a few well-known journalists who were more than a little rattled by the announcement — some even quickly went into the "head between the knees" emergency landing position even though no one from Air Canada had asked for it.

The Liberal's media bus is bursting with enthusiasm tonight in Sherbrooke, Que.

It isn't politics that has us all so excited. It is the moon.

Red, full, slowly rising over the Appalachian hills, the consensus is that it is the most beautiful autumn moon anyone here can remember.

So while politicians try to harvest votes, we enjoy the harvest moon.

Jack Layton is a music lover. That's no secret.

Reporters on the campaign have been waiting for the day he busts out his guitar.

A guitar was spotted on the plane, but we can't confirm it is his.

But Layton also likes to listen to music to unwind, get pumped up, work out etc.

Every political party has what's called a war room.

Inside are people who send out mass e-mails to reporters, spinning their parties' positions.

But usually they happen after an event is over.

Today I opened an e-mail entitled, "Welcome to Oakville, Susan."

I thought, that's weird, I'm not even in Oakville, Ont., yet. I'm still in Mississauga.

As a political reporter, election campaigns are great opportunities to do stories with people, sound and scenes.

The problem with the Conservative campaign so far is access.

Despite my protests, radio journalists are barred from photo opportunities. The television reporters have a pool crew, who gather tape they can all use.

Print reporters send in one representative to give them details and what journalists like to call "colour."

Radio, no such luck.

So if you hear sound on the radio from these photo opportunities, it's because I had to steal it from somewhere else.

Despite lots of talk about shifting political sands in Quebec, the Bloc Québecois continues to have appeal among younger voters, or some of them, at least. Gilles Duceppe spoke to a full house in the main auditorium at l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi over the lunch hour.

Hundreds of people, mainly students, came to hear the Bloc leader make his pitch, and then take a few questions. Duceppe received two (if hesitant) rounds of applause during his speech, which was partisan, and mainly attacked Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.

This region has a history of voting overwhelmingly "Yes" in sovereignty referendums, and usually elects provincial and federal representatives from the PQ and BQ.

However, the Conservatives currently hold two of the region's three seats. And local observers predict a tight two-way race to the finish line in all three electoral districts.

Two notes on signs at a Jack Layton town hall Tuesday afternoon in Welland, Ont.

First, a sign on the door of the Canadian Auto Workers union hall, where Layton spoke: "Bingo is cancelled for Tuesday September 16th."

Second, a sign across the road, out front of a shabby old house: "Seaway Serpentarium Reptile Zoo."

Lunch hour in Welland, Ont., comes a little early. Seems 'round these parts the mid-day meal starts at 11, not 12.

Or at least, it does at the John Deere factory.

NDP Leader Jack Layton was scheduled to arrive just before 11 and start speaking right at 11, thus assuring himself an audience of lunch-breaking, soon-to-be-laid-off factory workers.

But the tour was a little late arriving, and from the minute Layton stepped off the bus, the crowd was anxious for him to start speaking.

"Hurry up, Jack," one worker shouted. "We've only got half an hour for lunch."

And Jack, to his credit, tried. But he wasn't fast enough.

By the time Layton finished talking most of the lunch crowd had gone back to work. It was 11:45.

On this day of Stephen Harper talking (again) about his modest approach to nurturing Canada's economy and as world stock markets wobble to and fro, this non-political anecdote from a Harper supporter who attended this morning's Conservative event near Waterloo, Ont., home of the world headquarters for the so-far-unstoppable high-tech firm Research In Motion ("BlackBerries — locally-grown!).

Not long ago, the fellow sees an expensive sports car in the parking lot at his local suburban tennis club. The custom licence plate reads: MY RIM. Out marches its owner, a woman. Another man approaches from across the lot and says to her "Hey, did you buy that car with money from RIM stock?" And she goes "Absolutely I did." And he goes "That's how I bought my car too!"

It's a safe bet there are more than a few stories like that in and around Waterloo.

After this morning's campaign event by Stephen Harper in Kitchener, Ont., the journalists traveling with his tour were ushered to a quiet place to go think deep thoughts, write their reports and re-energize.

Cut to an empty corner of a parking lot by a giant mall, where the view from the parked media bus was Sears to the front, WalMart to the right, elevated highway to the rear, and another bus to the left. The meal? Swiss Chalet (mix of white and dark meat with salad and Heinz balsamic dressing). Tim Hortons coffee was rumoured to be en route.

Onto the bus bounds a top-ranking Conservative campaign worker who smells the chicken, surveys the vista and happily blurts out (tongue firmly in cheek) "It doesn't get any more on-brand than this!"

Twenty minutes or so before Stephen Harper’s arrival at an under-construction housing development this morning in suburban Kitchener, Ont., RCMP were on the lookout for potential threats to the Prime Minister.

And then they came: A small group of strong-looking men, kitted-up for some sort of apparent rough stuff. They were, after all, wearing hardhats. They were unshaven and suntanned. Some even had tattoos.

As they meandered down the street, toward the area where the PM would soon be, a burly RCMP officer raced toward them:

“What are you doing here?” they were asked.

“We’re construction workers — we work here,” they said.

“Have you got a pass? Have you got ID?”

“Uh, no.” they said.

In a very unscientific study the Journal de Montréal asked who is the sexiest party leader?

The paper recruited three judges (a comedian, a TV host, and a seduction coach) who were asked very pertinent questions relating to this campaign such as:

• Who would you invite for last call?
• Who would you introduce to your mother?
• Who would you keep as a lover?

The winner: Jack Layton. He got a score of six out of 10.

Gilles Duceppe is visiting some remote areas of northwestern Quebec, where news of the election campaign seems to move at a slower pace than in most places.

This morning, Duceppe had a quick breakfast with his election team in a restaurant in Chibougamau, a small mining and fishing town 700 kilometres north of Montreal, and which is surrounded by hundreds of kilometres of pristine lakes and forest.

A reporter sitting at a nearby table asked a man who lives in the community and was quietly enjoying a plate of eggs and toast with his Montreal tabloid, "Is that today's paper? Where did you get it?"

The man looked up and said, "Oh no, this is yesterday's. The paper doesn't usually arrive until about 3 p.m. around here."

It appears there's something unusual going on with the campaign planes — they all seem to be going to the same place.

Consider this. When Jack Layton arrived in Halifax on Sunday night, his was the only campaign in town. By the time he left late Monday afternoon, the Liberals had flown in, too.

The Stéphane Dion Air Inuit Liberal flight was sitting on the tarmac, just beside the Layton plane.

Reporters got their first taste of Gilles Duceppe at work behind the scenes on the campaign trail today, when everyone hopped on board a chartered turboprop together for the Bloc leader's tour through several remote towns and communities in northwestern Quebec.

And at first glance, you'd get the impression he isn't really working too hard. Seated near the front of the plane, Duceppe and his staff barely spoke during two flights totalling nearly three hours: no strategy briefings, no secretive discussions on the Bloc's next move. Duceppe kicked back with some Sudoku.

A party official says it has nothing to do with the fact having even a simple conversation aboard the Bloc plane is challenging due to the droning propeller engines rattling and buzzing away.

Picking campaign theme songs — the music that's played at rallies to pump up the crowd as the party leader takes the stage — can be tricky business, as others have written.

Team Stephen Harper 2008 uses Better Now by the U.S. band Collective Soul, a fairly safe bet by most standards. (OK, it's not Canadian, but still.)

The key is finding something punchy but without inappropriate lyrics.

Case in point, the "it seemed like a good idea at the time" song used by Ontario Conservatives the first time Mike Harris campaigned to be premier 18 years ago — or at least the one used in the early days of that campaign: The Rolling Stones' Start Me Up.

Voters who wanted to attend Stephen Harper's big rally in downtown London, Ont., Monday night had to pre-register with their name and address to gain access.

According to those staffing tables at the entry — who were holding printed lists with names and addresses of those who'd registered ahead of time, checking them in one by one — it's at the behest of the RCMP.

Non-registered people could get in, but only by showing their driver's licence and registering by name and address at another table.

Did I mention there was lobster on the NDP plane?

Lots.

In a nice, pre-cracked form, too.

There's lobster on the NDP plane.

Nuff said.

For the third time this campaign, demonstrators have greeted Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

In London, Ont., this afternoon, a small (25 or so) group of people chanting "Harper out, resisters in" banged drums, blew whistles and waved a pseudo U.S.-Canadian flag with "United We Fall" sewn onto it outside a venue where Harper was to stage an evening partisan rally.

They want Canada to reverse a decision to deport American volunteer soldiers who fled to this country rather than fight in Iraq.

The Conservatives may not be buying carbon offsets on their election campaign, but they are making a small nod to the environment.

When reporters boarded the official Conservative buses this afternoon, each workstation had a desk lamp.

Inside each one, was an energy efficient light bulb.

In Canada, the best-laid plans of any traveler can be upset by the weather.

The remnants of Hurricane Ike threatened to delay — if not derail — the Liberal schedule.

While the skies were clear in St.John's, Stéphane Dion's plane was held up from taking off because its destination (Halifax) was experiencing what's left of the hurricane.

There was talk of diverting to Moncton.

Liberal staffers joked that somehow the media will find a way to blame the weather on the Liberals, too.

It's taken a few days, but now it's abundantly clear: The NDP theme song is "We're gonna win," by Bryan Adams.

It's not been played at every rally, but it is the official theme song of the campaign. It's one of those relentlessly high energy tracks, filled with urgent lyrics and fast, simple, catchy guitar licks.

Perhaps a little too high-energy for some crowds.

At a Jack Layton rally in Dartmouth-Cole Harbour today, there was a brief discussion among staffers about whether to play the song.

The crowd might not appreciate its rock-y goodness, the thinking went. Maybe something a little, er, softer would be in order, the crowd there being blessed as they were, with an abundance of grey hair.

Whether it's due to threats by the Taliban or fears of a negative story mid-campaign, reporters embedded with the Canadian Forces at the Kandahar Air Field have been told it's going to be much harder for them to do stories while the federal election campaign's going on in Canada.

Unlike the situation before the election call, all media requests in Kandahar seeking access to do embed stories will now have to have them approved by National Defence headquarters in Ottawa — at least until the day after voting day.

As a result, CBC's already been forced to cancel at least one story it had been working on.

What's that phrase about the first casualty of war?

Photo opportunities have been part of election campaigns as long as politicians have been kissing babies. Stephen Harper's Conservatives are no exception.

Today, they've bused out about 100 supporters from John Baird's campaign office in Ottawa. And they've pulled the airbus halfway into hanger 11 to make it easier for the supporters to give Harper a send-off.

To make it easy for Harper and his wife, there are two X's taped to the top of the stairs — one for each of them.

As for the parking job, Captain Jim Adams says he's also good at parallel parking.

Not sure if he meant with a car, or the plane.

Week One of the Liberal leader's tour involved a lot of travel — 9,000 kilometres by plane and 1,131 kilometres by bus.

At the outset, Stéphane Dion promised the Liberal party would offset its greenhouse gas emissions by buying carbon credits.

So how much will it all cost?

Well, with credits running at between $16 and $24 a tonne, party officials say they've budgeted between $45,000 and $60,000 for the entire campaign. They say it's just part of campaigning in the 21st century.

The puffin theme lives on.

The Liberal tour spent the morning in Newfoundland and Labrador, home of the puffin.

Last week the Liberals got a boost when Conservatives showed a puffin pooping on the Liberal leader on a Tory website. The Prime Minister apologized and the offending poop was removed.

Now puffins have a place on the Liberal plane.

As predicted by Political Bytes a couple of days ago, the quantity of public polling data — including rolling polls — has reached the critical mass necessary for the hardcore junkies to indulge in their other favourite addiction, seat projecting!

Ekos has a seat projection out today that shows the Conservatives short of a majority and the Liberals cratering. It also has the Green Party winning its first seat, which naturally raises the question, where is it?

Answer: Saanich Gulf Islands, currently held by Conservative Gary Lunn

Remember, it's just a computer model and not a crystal ball.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is starting his second week of campaigning sounding a little rough.

It's not the content of what he's saying — it's his voice.

Dion isn't exactly known for his booming and commanding voice, so he needs to try a little harder when speaking in public and that seems to be taking a toll.

His staff insist he's not sick but just has a "cough."

The same thing happened to Dion almost two years ago after he won the Liberal leadership and spent days giving back-to-back interviews.

Speculation over what Stephen Harper was up to this morning was frenetic — the highest it's been since the campaign began.

At issue: a photo-op involving the PM at an Ottawa spa — but only a single journalist and some camera people were allowed to go.

What could Harper possibly be doing there? Pedicure? Aroma therapy? Facial with extraction and light neck massage? Canada's voters needed to know!

In the end, the spa was used simply as an example of a "small business" to help illustrate Harper's plans to extend maternity and parental benefits to the self-employed.

A group of five former Bloc MPs came out this morning in La Presse saying the Bloc has lost its way. Putting sovereignty on the back burner has made their former party irrelevant. The group also questions the party’s close ties to union groups in Quebec. They say the party has become the union movement’s "senate."

But in another paper, Le Devoir, another group of former Bloc MPs is defending the party.

In a letter signed by 11 ex-Bloquistes, that group says the Bloc matters now more than ever, because it's the only party defending the interests of Quebec.

Talk about climate change!

Less than 24 hours ago, Gilles Duceppe's forehead was glistening as he delivered an outdoor speech at a Bloc rally in Laval, north of Montreal. It was 27 degrees, and uncomfortably humid. No long sleeves to be seen — except Duceppe, always in a jacket and tie.

Monday morning his campaign headed north, a 90 minute flight to Val D'Or. Upon deplaning, one was immediately struck by the difference in the weather. It's chilly up here! In fact, the overnight temperature dropped to -4, and it was hovering barely above freezing through the morning.

The pilot warned with today's overcast conditions, there could be a few flurries.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion stood on a dock overlooking St. John's harbour this morning in Newfoundland.

He was announcing his party's plan to help out the fishing industry — including a plan to help fishermen upgrade their boats and make them more efficient. It's part of the overall plan, he says, to save the environment and the economy.

But apparently it takes a good bit of fuel to get the message out.

Sunday was a down day on the Harper campaign. Reporters had the chance to do their laundry, feed the dog, eat, sleep, that kind of thing.

Likewise, apparently, the Prime Minister. At least the laundry part.

There was a bit of buzz at the dry cleaner not far from 24 Sussex today (where the staff are all news junkies to begin with).

"The Prime Minister had some emergency dry cleaning! And they brought the clothes here! He needs it done fast so he can campaign tomorrow!" they said, excitedly.

There really are no secrets in this town.

It has to be said, election campaigns are tough on the old waistline.

There's food everywhere: On the plane, in the filing rooms, on the bus. Everywhere. And drinks, too. Lots of calorie-laden pops, and beers and wines. And with 16-hour campaign days being just about normal, there's no time to walk or run or even go to the gym.

As a result, by the end of a five week election campaign, the combined total weight of the 300-some odd member Parliamentary Press Gallery has usually increased by almost a tonne — which is to say, between two and four kilograms per member. Or between five and 10 pounds each, for those still keeping track the old way.

After a week of campaigning on the ground — literally — Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe takes off Monday for his first series of flights to more remote areas of Canada's largest province, geographically.

Like the Liberals, the BQ had problems booking a plane from (relatively) large carriers Inuit Air and Firstair, two companies which do frequently rent charter flights in provincial election campaigns. In the end, the Bloc managed to book the same plane it used in the 2006 and 2004 campaigns: a 40-year-old Corvair 580 turboprop operated by Montreal charter company Nolinor.

Janine Krieber will be joining her husband, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, for this second week of the campaign.

She's clearly seen as an asset by the campaign team. She provides moral support for her husband and a friendly face who can kibitz with the media on long flights.

But she also has plans to branch out soon and do her own auxillary campaign.

It is not the most scientific of tallies. But as best we at CBC News can figure out, here is where the party leaders went during week one of the election campaign.

Jack Layton's tour: 11 cities, 13,484 kilometres (22.8 hours) travelled by air.

The main cities hit: Calgary, Fort Smith, NWT, Vancouver, Regina, Toronto, Oshawa, Montreal, St. John's, Nfld., Ottawa and Halifax (tonight).

Stéphane Dion:

Number of cities/towns, 16; hours flown, 14.5; flight kilometres, 9,094; total kilometres travelled 10,225.

Gilles Duceppe quickly grew testy at a Sunday morning press briefing when some members of the Quebec media started to grill the Bloc leader on his near-leap to provincial politics last year.

Duceppe had announced his intentions to seek the leadership of the Parti Québécois. But he flushed his bid almost immediately once Pauline Marois (who ran uncontested for the job) said she wanted to become PQ boss.

Reporters wanted to know if Duceppe is committed to serving out his entire leadership mandate with the Bloc if he is re-elected on October 14.

Duceppe replied that he was once asked whether he could guarantee he'd stay in his job for five more elections.

"That could mean 20 years. I'm 61 years old, so I'd be 81," Duceppe said. "That's ridiculous."

It is a four and a half hour plane ride from Vancouver to Ottawa and for party leaders, this is a good time to get some work done.

Stephane Dion is a studious type at the best of times and he knows that this election campaign is his best and perhaps last shot at convincing Canadians that he should be prime minister. So he works constantly.

Tonight a curious reporter snuck a peak at Dion at work in the front cabin of his plane and could just glimpse a fat briefing binder on his lap.

Hmmm. What could it be. He knows his policy inside out. Debate preps perhaps?

Weary reporters who spent the last week covering Liberal Leader Stephane Dion received welcome home gifts upon arrival at the Ottawa airport late Saturday night — from the Conservatives.

While I was stepping into a taxi, a young man said, "Welcome home!"and thrust a Tory blue gift bag into my hands.

On the outside was a card reading, "Their plane is old, your journey was rough, for a better week fly with us", and it was signed "The Conservative Team."

When Stephen Harper had a brief photo-op at the St. John's airport this weekend, photographers and TV cameramen thought they'd found a no-brainer that wasn't part of the itinerary: a gorgeous grand piano quietly sitting there, begging to be played by reknowned keyboard whiz, the Conservative leader himself.

Sunlight beamed into the room from above the St. John's countryside and the Harper plane sat shining in the background. It was picture perfect.

But his communications staff would have none of it and tried to give the shooters the bum's rush. No way, no how would they let this happen. It was an unplanned event.

Except for one thing: the camera-people refused to budge, knowing a good shot was waiting to happen.

Journalists watch and listen to politicians extra carefully during campaigns, ever on the lookout for some sort of gaffe or misstep upon which to pounce mercilessly (see: Potato, spelling of).

Those same journalists, of course, never make errors themselves. It's a proven fact. Ask any of us.

Up until Saturday, anyway.

Astute viewers of my report from beautiful Harbour Grace, Nfld., about the spat between Stephen Harper and Premier Danny Williams might have noticed the backdrop to my standup looked an awful lot like a marina near the Vancouver airport.

Jack Layton offered the reporters who were shifting off his campaign tour after week one a parting gift: a copy of his book, Speaking Out Louder: Ideas that work for Canadians.

The books came autographed, many of them thanking reporters personally for helping Layton dub his campaign plane, Kitchen Air (in honour of one of his favourite lines about ideas that matter around the kitchen table).

The epigraph of the book published two years ago could not be more appropriate for Layton's campaign this time round.

It is a Chinese proverb that reads: "If we do not change our direction, we are liable to end up where we are headed."

And where did the NDP tour head off to in week one? According to the party's numbers, Layton's tour has been to 11 cities, flown 22.8 hours or 13,484 kilometres.

The campaign plane can be a challenge for the crews who fly them.

For reporters, a campaign's 18-hour days with their stress-filled deadlines means that the long plane rides between stops are often the only opportunity to relax and let off steam.

The crew on the Liberal plane, an Air Inuit team on their first election campaign, had never seen anything like it.

And while the crews on the other tours have been greeting reporters with drinks and snacks and smiling indulgently at people who continue to stand and mingle in the aisle ways while meals are being served, the Liberal crew have been a tad uptight.

Until today.

As we've noted before, this campaign hasn't found its story arc yet. It's bounced between defecating puffins and flailing (Ryan) Sparrows to gas prices and Elizabeth May. These false starts only annoy the hardcore junkies among us who require a longer term relationship with the campaign, a day-to-day commitment from here until October 14th.

There is some good news in that the "rolling polls" have arrived. They've been in the backroom toolkit for a long time but pollster Nik Nanos and his SES Research debuted the public rolling poll in the 2004 election and it was a huge hit — and also right on target in the end.

More than a few basement, shut-in political addicts described it as "like crack!" (as if they'd know).This year we have at least three rolling polls to feed the habit: Nanos again, Harris-Decima (which the CBC is following on this site) and Ekos.

Bloc Leader, Gilles Duceppe, looked less than amused Saturday during a media scrum in a barnyard when a reporter asked him, "If you could be any kind of farm animal, which farm animal would you be?"

Duceppe held a press briefing in front of a horse corral at the St-Tite Western Festival — which draws hundreds of thousands of country and rodeo fans — after he sat in on a calf-roping competition and then gladhanded with festival goers.

When asked the question, Duceppe huffed and said, "I'm neither a farm animal, nor an animal party. I'm myself, period," managing a chuckle.

Here is an excerpt, for the record, from a question and answer session between Stephen Harper and reporters this morning in Fredericton.

The question to Harper: Is Canada becoming more and more a conservative country?

His response:

"Certainly it has since I've been involved in politics."

Party catchphrases can get a little tedious after hearing them day in and day out.

One of Jack Layton's favourites (and we're sure you've heard this one before), is the kitchen table versus the board room table. It's Layton's way of suggesting he best defends the interests of the middle-class, or the "kitchen table" as it were.

But today, a new phrase has appeared: "I'll watch your back."

Layton says Harper doesn't watch Canadians' backs and that Layton will. It's a subtle change in language, but it tells you an awful lot about the NDP strategy and where it's headed.

Layton is framing himself as the guy who watches out for the "little guy" and the NDP, at least, believes it may be working.

For the second time in a week, a group of young Liberals has protested an NDP campaign event.

Seven young Liberals lined up outside a Toronto convention hall, greeting NDP supporters on their way in.
One woman held a sign that read "Harper + Layton, Tru luv 4 eva," surrounded by a large red heart.

The young Liberals say a split in the liberal/left vote would allow the Conservatives to waltz to a majority. Earlier this week some Liberals took the same approach in Vancouver, protesting a Jack Layton rally.

"A vote for Jack is a vote for Harper," they chanted.

The NDP feeds reporters well.

Of course, it's all part of their strategy. Keeping reporters well-fed and watered keeps them less grumpy.

During the last campaign, the NDP offered up lobsters to reporters on the plane.

So, naturally I was anxiously awaiting that day.

Well, word has it that the NDP tour heads back east tomorrow.

And it is rumoured lobsters will be on board!!

Guess who won't be on board? Me.

Jack Layton has talked about change an awful during this election.

Well today there was a change in scheduling.

The NDP was supposed to announce a major policy plank today — details on how the party would fight poverty and lots numbers for reporters to chew on. Why, there was even a technical briefing scheduled.

But we got word early this morning the announcement was off.

It turns out Gilles Duceppe is a big country and western fan.

Who knew?

The urbane Bloc leader, whose own Montreal riding includes arguably some of the hippest, most stylish neighbourhoods in Canada, says he is looking forward to his campaign stop at the St-Tite Western Festival today.

It's the second-largest country music and rodeo event in the country, after the Calgary Stampede, drawing tens of thousands of visitors every September to the small community of 4,000.

Reporters, it can be agreed, are extremely focused people. But put them on a tight deadline and they can approach hell-bent single-mindedness, oblivious to the real world, and in a panic to get the story done on time (or so we like our bosses to think.)

Cut to a Harper speech in Summerside, P.E.I. this week and the Prime Minister building to a verbal crescendo, when a hugely loud kaboom stuns the packed room. Terrorist attack? Another prank by the folks at 22 Minutes? Not quite.

A network TV reporter rushing madly toward the auditorium, deadline looming, and in the zone (reading and writing while running and rehearsing) had charged straight into a floor-to-ceiling plate of glass, thinking it was an open door to the crowded room.

It's been a difficult day for poll hounds.

Are the Conservatives building their lead? Or is it shrinking? Depending on which narrative you prefer, you could find a poll to support it today.

Whose poll is correct? Or could they all be, in a way, correct — even when they lead to opposite conclusions?

Talk about tension.

We'd all just filed our stories under tight B.C. deadlines and had crowded onto our plane to fly back to Vancouver for a night rally.

Suddenly, word came of an emergency scrum.

Stéphane Dion appeared and stood over National Post columnist Don Martin. He was shaking a copy of Friday's paper in Martin's face. Martin has written several scathing columns this week on the Liberal tour.

When the national media arrives in ridings with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, they typically do a quick online search for information on the local candidate.

The Liberal candidate for the B.C. riding of Saanich Gulf Islands is a well-known and long-time environmentalist, illustrator, writer, and has a PhD in geography. On Briony Penn's website, she talks about being courted by the NDP, Green party and Liberals before choosing to work with Dion.

Locals though, always have more information. Many speak fondly of a media stunt Penn pulled back in 2001. That's when Penn donned only underpants and a long blonde wig, jumped on a horse and rode around downtown Vancouver with several other women.

There's a trend which seems to be emerging at Gilles Duceppe's evening rallies.

A couple of trends actually.

First, Duceppe has no problem drawing a decent sized-crowd every night of the week. Between 250 and 500 supporters have shown up for all of his events, including his speech Friday night in Sorel, Que., a relatively small community an hour east of Montreal.

Stephen Harper had to deal with some unexpected hot air Friday night.

Just as he was about to talk about the Liberal platform, there was a strange sound to the side of the stage.

Turns out a little girl let the air out of a thunder stick. Harper paused and said, "I think you got the RCMP a little excited there."

The Liberal plane is taking on more of a campaign office feel now that it has been in use for a few days.

Liberal staffers have plastered the walls along the seats up at the front of the plane with enlarged photos of Dion campaigning.

The first to go up was a photo of the leader with a young girl holding a sign that says "I love Dion."

Reporters can see this because so far the curtains separating the leader and his entourage from the media are left open — most of the time.

That is something most people expect will change as the campaign goes on.

World-renowned Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman has endorsed Stéphane Dion.

In a news release from the party, he is quoted as saying the Liberal leader will implement policies that will help the environment.

On a campaign stop in the Montreal riding of Papineau, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe received signs of support from some unlikely sources.

As his team of Montreal candidates gathered outside a busy campaign office, a delivery truck slowed down to honk abundantly while driving past Duceppe's tour bus. That sort of gesture in and of itself is not so unusual. But the truck in question happened to be a red white and blue Canada Post van.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest is getting involved in the election campaign. He has come out with part of a wish list for the federal parties.

The first thing: He's against recent cuts to cultural groups. He wants a new Canada/Quebec deal dealing with culture and communications. He would like Quebec to be master of all cultural investments in the province — that all money spent by the federal government on culture be given to Quebec.

Reporters on the Conservative party's plane have finally fulfilled a decades-old tradition.

They dubbed the plane Sweater Vest Jet. That name won by one vote.

The close second was Fruit Fly.

Ryan Cleary got his first taste of being on the opposite end of a scrum today.

Cleary was grilled by reporters about some of his past critical statements about the NDP (calling them losers and suggesting Newfoundland consider separating).

Cleary says he no longer thinks the NDP are a bunch of losers and he's not a separatist.

Plus, Cleary says, he now believes Layton can be Prime Minister.

This morning in the north-end Montreal riding of Papineau, one of the reporters covering Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe got an unpleasant surprise from the sky.

A colleague pointed to a generous splotch of fresh bird do-do splattered over the left shoulder of his jacket.

Another tour reporter figured there must be a hidden flock of Conservative puffins banished from Stephen Harper's campaign hiding out here.

Or, perhaps the belligerent bird simply missed its target — Papineau being the riding where Liberal Justin Trudeau is seeking to make his first entry into Parliament.

That the internet is playing a bigger and bigger role in elections is not new. What is new is a Facebook group asking for people to swap their votes.

The group is called Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada. Right now it has more than 700 members.

This is how it works: Let's say you want to vote NDP but you don't think your candidate has a chance. You can "swap" your vote with a Liberal voter in a riding where your party could win.

Ryan Cleary is the NDP's candidate for St-John's South-Mount Pearl in Newfoundland and Labrador. But it's who Cleary was before that is causing the NDP problems now.

Up until just a few months ago, Cleary was the editor-in-chief of the Independent until it was shut down. And as such, he was an outspoken and critical voice of none other than the NDP.

He suggested the NDP was a party of "aging granolas" and "losers." He even suggested Newfoundland should become independent given its considerable wealth.

Stephen Harper is taking his attempt to reveal more of himself to a whole new level. At a news conference today, Geri Hall, with This Hour has 22 Minutes, started shouting out questions.

The RCMP hustled her out the room, as she shouted, "I love you, I want to love you."

Harper then turned to Fanny — she's with the national press gallery — and said, "et toi aussi" or you, too.

She replied, "No, I have no intention of giving you a love confession today."

Another hectic news morning as both Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and New Democrat Leader Jack Layton are making early morning news from Atlantic Canada.

Harper is promising to reduce barriers to foreign investment in Canada. Layton is pledging to protect consumers against what he says are the hidden fees and price gouging by banks, cellphone providers and oil companies.

And the Liberal leader?

Well, Nothing so far.

Yesterday the Liberal party issued a press release, condemning the way Conservative organizers allegedly "duped" expectant mothers into participating in one of their campaign photo-ops. You can read more about it here.

In the business, we sometimes call "ordinary people" who are strategically placed near politicians in promotional photo opportunities "potted plants." Yes, they are in the picture, but they're really there to make the politician look better.

Alas, the scenario the Liberals are complaining about seems all too familiar. It's not the first time pregnant women were invited to be the potted plants in the background of a Conservative government message in Ottawa.

After five days of talking about what families talk about when they sit down around the kitchen table, Jack Layton Friday actually sat down around a kitchen table. Actually, it was more of a counter top with a breakfast bar.

Jennifer White welcomed the NDP Leader into her home about 9 o'clock in the morning. Her parents were there and so were her kids.

Twelve-year-old Eric and eight-year-old Anna both missed a little school so they could meet Layton. Eric asked if Layton would mind writing a note to his teacher to explain the absence. He ended up writing a note for both kids.

The NDP campaign pulled into St. John's, Newfoundland just before midnight. The Thursday papers were still on display.

The headline on the St John's Telegram: "Huffin' and Puffin.'"

Front page photo: Premier Danny Williams and a man in a puffin suit holding a big sign that read "ABC," Williams' acronym for Anyone But Conservatives.

For Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, this election campaign, his fifth as leader of the Bloc, seventh in his career, is taking years off his life!

(Well, almost a year, anyway).

On campaign posters and the side of his leader's bus, the 61-year-old politician's face looks fresh, bold, rejuvenated. Piercing, almost surreal blue eyes fix upon you, asking for your vote.

An ad released by the NDP Thursday in Quebec features the voice of a famous Quebec actress by the name of Pascale Bussières, who is perhaps best known for her roles in Blanche and Alys Robi.

Bussières is also someone who cares about the environment.

And in a past Chatelaine article (the French edition) Bussières was asked if she would support the Green party.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion had his first encounter with a campaign baby Thursday.

It was as Dion addressed local Liberals who greeted him at a small rally at the airport in Thunder Bay, Ont.

When the mother and her child met Dion as he walked off the tarmac someone shouted at him to kiss the baby.

Flip:

"I don't like deadlines," MacKenzie said. "I don't like announcing deadlines to an enemy force that now says to themselves, 'Well, we're getting rid of the Canadians' so let's turn our strategic attack on some other country.'"

That was retired Major-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie earlier this week on the prospect of Canada pulling its troops out of Afghanistan on a firm date, as quoted by Associated Press on Wed., Sept. 10.

Flop:

"I'm not gonna be the least bit embarrassed if we pull our combat troops out, and that's what the PM has said, in 2011. I think 10 years, paying a higher price in blood and gold than any other of the 25 NATO nations is nothing to be ashamed of. It's something to be very proud of.

"So I don't have a problem with setting the date. Because quite frankly he left wiggle room. We can leave behind the PRT, the Provincial Reconstruction Team, we can leave behind the infantry company protecting them, advisors, etc. So it's not pulling every Canadian soldier out of Afghanistan."

From an interview on Politics with Don Newman on CBC Newsworld, September 11.

It's been 11 years since Lew MacKenzie ran for the Progressive Conservatives in a central Ontario riding. Perhaps, however, they haven't lost his number.

MPs often take turns travelling on the leader's tour.

Today, New Brunswick Liberal candidate Paul Zed joined the tour and he came bearing gifts: lobster rolls for everyone on board.

Reporters spent about 16 hours in New Brunswick but all of that was in a hotel sleeping or covering the leader's event. So if reporters couldn't get to some lobster, the Liberals made sure the lobster would get to them.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has been launching attacks on the Liberals all week.

In Quebec on Thursday he launched a few barbs at the Bloc Québécois.

But it's been NDP Leader Jack Layton who has been nipping at his heels all week. Layton has been hours behind Harper, from British Columbia to Regina to Montreal.

Reporters on election campaigns often send in their stories from some strange places. This week reporters filed from a Quonset hut, on a Saskatchewan farm. That's like a garage.

Today, reporters with Stephen Harper filed from a shed, at a winery. There were containers of wine fermenting. And around a corner were pallets of wine. Bottled. Boxed. And shrink-wrapped. Ready to go.

Perhaps not the wisest place to leave the national media.

Everyone did meet their deadlines, though.

The Conservative Party's NotaLeader.ca puffin is being plucked. Seems the Conservative attack website spoofing Stéphane Dion is gradually coming apart.

First the Puffin stopped pooping. Then a feature Dionbook which dissed some Liberal bloggers was removed. Now most of the interactive features like the Excuse Generator, or the Policy Slot machine won't work. And you can no longer click on the picture of Michael Ignatieff with a gun — and see an excerpt from a documentary.

Campaign coffee is never any good. Ever. It's always thin and watery and bitter.

For the past few days, reporters aboard the NDP plane have been hurting for a good cup of joe. Every time the campaign bus passed by a Starbucks, heads would turn, mouths would water and more than one reporter would beg, "can we stop?"

So imagine the delight, when reporters traveling with the NDP learned there was a Starbucks right across the street from their Montreal hotel.

Many happy hacks rolled across the street in the morning to order their Grande Corse. And later in the day, as the NDP bus was loading up for departure, another small group made a dash across the road to grab a cup to go.

When the election was called, many of us wondered how Canadians would react. Did they want an election? Would they engage? Today in Saint John during a brief lull in the tour, several people approached me as I sat outside the hotel taking in some ocean air.

They all wanted to talk about the campaign. And they all used the word "interesting." One man just kept repeating "interesting campaign for sure." I counted six repetitions in a two or three minute conversation.

The Conservative government threw a sop to big auto in the dying days of the last Parliament in order to shore up support in the manufacturing heartland around Toronto.

It remains to be seen whether that works to neutralize the impact of Ontario job losses on voter preference for the governing party. Opposition parties estimate more than 200,000 jobs have been lost in the province in recent years.

But some small manufacturers in the region say they're miffed at the Conservative decision to boost carmakers like Ford and GM while ignoring the thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses that have also been hit hard.

There was a rather revealing moment on the Bloc campaign today.

Gilles Duceppe met with the outspoken (and openly sovereigntist) mayor of Huntingdon, a small farming and manufacturing community southwest of Montreal.

Once Duceppe finished his daily news conference with reporters, the mayor, Stephane Gendron, took his place at the BQ campaign podium. Given Gendron's reputation for offering unbridled opinions on almost any topic, It didn't take long for reporters to start asking questions about the Opus Dei controversy.

There are seven ridings in Quebec’s Eastern Townships; six are currently held by the Bloc, one by the Conservatives. La Tribune, the local paper in Sherbrooke, took a look at each party’s finances in the region.

In the riding Sherbrooke, the Bloc has the most money to spend: $30,567. The Conservatives are starting out with only $656 in the bank. And the Liberals have $3,200 in the bank, but are also paying off a $4,200 debt.

Next door in the riding of Compton-Stanstead the Bloc has a healthy $45,236 in its coffers. The Conservatives have $10,172. The local Liberal organization filed no financial report with Elections Canada.

What’s an election without the Rhinoceros Party in Quebec — actually now called the NeoRhinos.

Their slogan: To love oneself is to vote.

Their target: the 40 per cent of Canadians who won’t vote. The party wants to give them hope and offer them alternatives to vote for one louse or another.

They are determined to be heard even though they deem themselves thick, idiots and all other names the other parties will attribute to them.

You'll remember on Tuesday Stephen Harper was asked what kind of vegetable he is. Well, a mother and daughter in Montreal teamed up to come up with vegetables for each leader.

Stephen Harper: A hot pepper. He looks innocent, but he bites you.

Jack Layton: A carrot. He is good for you, but boring.

Stephane Dion: A potato. Inconspicuous, underground, but "eyes" everywhere.

Gilles Duceppe: A gourgane. A type of bean only found in Quebec.

It's unusual for political leaders to visit factories and not allow the media to come along for the ride. After all, TV cameras love the rhythmic hum of slicing machines and automated perforators.

But Gilles Duceppe is playing it a little differently this morning. He's touring a potato processing plant south of Montreal, and the media are not allowed inside.

Duceppe's team denies the blackout is because the Bloc leader has to wear a hairnet for sanitary purposes.

Two days ago when Stephen Harper was asked what kind of vegetable he would be, he said he'd more likely be a fruit because he's sweet and colourful.

Yesterday, when Duceppe toured an apple orchard, reporters couldn't resist.

As Duceppe chomped into an apple, one asked "If you were a fruit, Mr. Duceppe, what kind of fruit would you be?"

Duceppe paused, shook his head to the left three times and turned the question around on the journalists,
"If you were a pickle, what kind of fruit is that?"

If there's one guy who hasn't been on Jack Layton's mind it's Stéphane Dion.

Well, Layton hasn't been talking about him anyway. That's because Layton says he wants the Prime Minister's job. Except, Dion's name is beginning to slip out — on occasion.

The first time came at a speech in Vancouver-Kingsway when Layton pointed out that Dion had supported the Tories' immigration bill. And now today, in Montreal, a the second mention. Specifically, saying that Dion's carbon tax is wrong and he knows it.

NDP Leader Jack Layton started his first news conference of the day in Montreal with this observation, "I notice a lot of the reporters here today are wearing sunglasses. Probably out partying in my hometown last night late. Hope you had a good time".

For the record, it was sunny.

In what the NDP is calling its biggest offensive ever in a federal campaign (in terms of spending) the party has launched ads aimed at Quebec.

They are ominous in tone. In black and white Stephen Harper is on one side of the screen and George W. Bush on the other.

A number of key phrases appear on the screen suggesting a vote for Harper is pro-war, pro-Bush, anti-Kyoto and anti-gay marriage — all things the NDP believes do not represent the values of Quebecers.

The Montreal newspaper La Presse is reporting this morning that the Action Démocratique du Québec have made it semi-official : they will be helping Harper during this campaign.

Watch for three ADQ members of the National Assembly at Harper's St-Eustache event today: Pierre Gingras, Lucie Leblanc and Linda Lapointe.

Seen at a Stephen Harper rally in Toronto:

Souvenirs given away to Conservative supporters: white cooking aprons emblazoned with the phrase: "Bubbies For Harper."

Bubbies is Yiddish for "Grannies."

It's official, the Liberal party plane has a name — Profess-Air.

Some nicknames under consideration were Pollute-Air, and Laissez-Faire I Don't Care Air. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion uses that phrase daily to describe the Conservative party's approach to the economy.

Dion was a professor before entering politics.

If this is Wednesday, we must be in an opposition riding.

In fact, same thing for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Stephen Harper's push for a majority seems to so far presume none of the ridings already held by Tories needs a boost from the leader.

A familiar sight isn't around as much on this Conservative campaign.

During the last election, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper relied heavily on his two see-through teleprompters.

Television viewers surely have seen many politicians use them, but Harper himself is giving them up for some events.

Aboard Air Inuit at last!

Outside, new stickers say Liberal and Carbonzero (the company from which the Liberals have purchased carbon offset credits to make up for all the emissions from this 30-year-old Boeing 737).

Former Conservative Senator Michael Fortier seems to have trouble remembering all the spending announcements he and fellow Conservatives made in the weeks leading up to the election call.

Wednesday morning the Conservative candidate was asked about the Festival Orgues et Couleurs, an annual music festival in Montreal.

Laureen Harper has nothing on Conservative MP Rick Dykstra of St. Catharines.

The prime minister's wife has famously transformed 24 Sussex into a cat shelter. But Dykstra's southern Ontario riding office has also become a haven for cats and kittens from the nearby humane society. Eight kittens are now frolicking around his work space during the day.

On Wednesday, Ford announced 500 more job cuts at its plant in Oakville.

The Oakville seat is currently held by Liberal Bonnie Brown. But she held on to this seat by her fingernails in the last election - a mere 625 vote margin, which in a large suburban riding is only 1.25 per cent of the total votes cast. The Tories worked hard to upset her then, and they're working hard to finish the job this time.

Of all the hotels in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into this one.

Laureen Harper, I mean. The prime minister's wife.

After the New Democrats and Conservatives opened the door for Elizabeth May to join the debate, May was quick to respond.

The leader of the Green Party, gave reporters across Canada a 15 minute warning of a conference call this afternoon. Reporters dialed in and a few minutes later May joined the call from New Glasgow where she is campaigning.

She started with a statement and she said that she "fully expects she will be in the debate."

Day four of the campaign and the Liberals enjoy their biggest rally of the campaign.

Six hundred students jammed into an auditorium of Sacred Heart Secondary School in Walkerton, Ontario, to meet Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.

Too bad for Dion that the vast majority of these kids are not old enough to vote!

Dion told the students: "You will be my inspiration."

Well, after being hammered on the issue for two days, Jack Layton has changed his tune on Elizabeth May.

The NDP Leader now says the debate about the debate is a distraction. And he says his only condition for being there is that the Prime Minister be there too.

No trees, no bandwidth and no airtime were spared in the effort to spotlight the Conservatives' now-infamous puffin web-gag-gone-wrong yesterday.

But there's been considerably less discussion about something else on this site — in the lower right-hand corner of notaleader.ca.

When you click on the little chalk drawing of the man with the gun, you'll see video from one of Michael Ignatieff's old documentaries. In the video, he attempts to shoot a target with an assault rifle. He misses, and has to get a tribal war lord to show him how it's done.

Gilles Duceppe's campaign day is being overshadowed by a war of words between two once-prominent figures in the Quebec sovereignty movement.

This morning an open letter in the province's largest French daily newspaper, La Presse, compares the Bloc Quebecois with the NDP, and suggests the BQ is an old "war horse" which has worn out its welcome.

Problem is, the letter was penned by Jacques Brassard, a once highly-infleuntial sovereigntist who sat around the cabinet tables of former PQ premier Lucien Bouchard.

Enter Jacques Leonard, another former PQ cabinet minister, who is now president of the Bloc.

After Brassard's open letter rattled the Bloc campaign this morning, sending leader Gilles Duceppe into damage control mode, Leonard issued a letter of his own to his old cabinet colleague.

Of course, they never lent him a dime. But the Conservatives are self-appointed enforcers when it comes to policing Stéphane Dion's unpaid debts from his successful bid to become Liberal leader in 2006.

Last night Elections Canada posted the latest returns from three of the other candidates in the Liberal leadership race who still owe money.

Stéphane Dion's return isn't among them. Only Hedy Fry, Ken Dryden and Michael Ignatieff met the Sept. 2 deadline. The others, including Dion, sought an extension.

The Conservatives insist Dion has broken another promise.

Ricardo Lopez — remember him?

He was a Tory MP in the 80s and 90s. He also had some controversial opinions. He called for an end to social assistance and Employment Insurance for those who are able to work; during the Oka crisis he suggested natives should move north to Labrador; and he voted against all abortion unless the life of the mother is in danger.

It has been said in this early stage of the campaign that Liberals can use all the help they can get.

Well, Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett from the Toronto riding of St. Paul's has some interesting help in her campaign. One of the men who ran against her last time is now a top tier supporter.

Paul Summerville carried the NDP banner against Bennet in 2006. He finished third. But he's signed on to help Bennett win again.

Gilles Duceppe is caught between a political rock and a hard place, just four days into the campaign. It's all because of a supposed ally.

A prominent sovereigntist ex-politician wrote an open letter in La Presse, denouncing the Bloc for having morphed into what he calls "an NDP clone" centred on a left-wing agenda, alienating more conservative-thinking Quebecers, all to the detriment of the independence movement.

Jobs. It's the number one issue on the minds of voters in the Niagara region.

John Maloney, the incumbent Liberal MP for Welland knows this well. Last week, John Deere announced it will close its plant in his riding, the latest of a string of closures and job losses.

In a recent canvas of a local mall here, everyone Maloney talked to said they're worried about the economy and more closures.

Stephen Harper sat down and had breakfast with the reporters traveling on his campaign tour this morning.

Some of the issues Harper touched on were NHL expansion in Canada, winning the vote in Toronto, the economy and job losses over recent months and Canada's role in Afghanistan after 2011.

A week ago a Conservative spokesman told reporters Harper would take eight questions a day from the national media every day.

Today's breakfast with the media was very informal and featured a wide-ranging discussion.

There's plenty of red tape in the riding of Beaches-Woodbine in Toronto's east end — at least when it comes to the Liberal candidate's election signs.

Maria Minna has held the riding since 1993 and is looking to take it again. She's reusing many of her lawn signs from the last campaign, modified with red tape to cover up part of her signs — the part that reads "Team Martin."

A lone protester was kicked out of an Oshawa parking lot this morning, where Jack Layton was holding a campaign event.

Police politely removed Cavan Gostlin from the site because he was carrying two Green Party campaign signs.

Gostlin was protesting the NDP leader's refusal to allow Green party Leader Elizabeth May to participate in the nationally televised leaders' debates.

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe refused to back down after he was criticized for attacking the nomination of a Conservative candidate running in a suburban riding near Montreal.

A newspaper reported this morning that Nicole Charbonneau Barron, a prominent member of Opus Dei, will run as a Conservative. Opus Dei is an ultra-conservative branch of the Roman Catholic church.

In Thunder Bay tonight, Jack Layton hosted a local town hall meeting to talk about some of the tough times the town is going through.

Standing against the wall, a number of former sawmill workers. They've been without work since November.

Although none of them would go on camera, they say the government has done nothing for them and that Harper has sold them down the river.

But none of these gentleman were actually here to see Jack Layton.

As it turns out, their union sent them an e-mail asking them to show up for a meeting about employment insurance benefits.

One of Jack Layton's favourite (and one could argue, most over-used) phrase is, "We'll defend you at the kitchen table, not the boardroom table".

There is speculation that if the NDP were to form the government, perhaps everyone in Canada would receive a new (or slightly used) kitchen table.

The federal election campaign is barely underway and Conservatives in Nova Scotia are already down a key candidate.

Yesterday, the party announced that Rosamond Luke would run in the riding of Halifax. The party appointed Luke to the nomination.

Luke is currently the executive director of the All Women's Empowerment and Development Association (AWEDA).

Today, CBC News learned that the party had subsequently learned that Luke had two criminal convictions.

Reporters covering the Bloc campaign are already feeling like they’ve heard everything the leader has to say:

• "It’s better to stand up in Opposition than be on your knees in government."
• "We may have been around for 18 years but the Liberals and Conservatives have been there for 141!"

So, there was a flutter of excitement when the Bloc announced they would be revealing a Conservative scandal this afternoon.

Add the voice of a rock star to the criticism of the decision to exclude Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from the televised leaders’ debate.

The Tragically Hip’s lead guitar player, Rob Baker, says he is personally disappointed. Baker showed up at a campaign rally for the local Liberal candidate in Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington in eastern Ontario on Tuesday.

Wearing a blue t-shirt featuring a stylized portrait of Pierre Trudeau, Baker says the band’s studio is in the riding.

I got a nice postcard from Stephen Harper and his family wishing me a happy new year this week. I was about to blame Canada Post for slow service, when I realized he was wishing me a happy Jewish new year.

Somehow, my name ended up on a Conservative mailing list of Jewish constituents. I realize "Wise" can be a Jewish name, but it also has German and English Protestant roots. Did the Conservatives simply target all "Jewish sounding" names for this direct mail campaign?

About three dozen striking workers were hanging about outside NDP Leader Jack Layton's morning event in Regina today.

Layton was at a breakfast event at the popular Freehouse pub (beer was not served).

The striking workers are members of the Grain Services Union. They work for Viterra — the largest grain-handling company in Canada.

The pickets anxiously watched the Jack Layton bus circle the parking lot they were standing in, hoping, one said, that Layton would emerge.

Two of Stéphane Dion's tour buses made a pit stop at a Tim Horton's in Kingston, Ontario, this afternoon. Outside a dozen or so seagulls swirled in the air overhead.

Getting off the bus, Liberal Senator Jim Munson looked up and yelled out, "Look out! It's puffins!"

He then ran towards the coffee shop with his arms over his head.

The reference, of course, being to the Conservatives' online ad gaffe today where they had a cartoon puffin pooping on an image of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.

Standing in front of a collection of vegetables at a truck depot where he was announcing that a re-elected Conservative government would cut two cents a litre from the excise tax on diesel fuel this morning, Stephen Harper was asked the inevitable question: If you were a vegetable, which one would you be?

In a rarely-seen moment for the prime minister, he was temporarily at a loss for words.

Gilles Duceppe was forced to stickhandle a potentially embarrassing question during a French-language radio interview in Quebec City on Tuesday morning.

The host asked Duceppe what credibility he had left as Bloc leader, given the fact he came within a hair of quitting the party just over a year ago, to seek the leadership of the provincial Parti Quebécois.

Duceppe announced his candidacy and then withdrew a day later when the current leader, Pauline Marois made it known she wanted the job.

The Montreal newspaper, La Presse, is reporting that the Conservative candidate in the riding of St. Bruno-St. Hubert, Nicole Charbonneau Barron, is a member and was a spokesperson for Opus Dei.

This is a very conservative and often secretive group within the Catholic church.

Barron came out defending Opus Dei in 2006 when the Hollywood movie, The Da Vinci Code, was released. She said the movie was a caricature of the order, not based in reality.

Canadians are used to Stéphane Dion mixing up his word in English. But today he did it in French.

Talking about his childhood, he said as a young boy he dreamed of being a nudist. He meant naturalist.
In French the world for naturalist is "naturaliste."

"Naturiste" is the word for nudist. He used the latter when he meant to use the former.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May responded to a claim by Stephen Harper that she would endorse
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion before the end of the campaign.

Speaking Monday in Richmond B.C., Harper said May and Dion are basically presenting the same positions and that he was certain that May would support to the Liberal Party before the end of the campaign.

May told reporters in Ottawa that there's absolutely no way that she would turn her back on the 306 Green Party candidates running against Liberals.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May responded to questions Monday about why she is saying very nice things about Brent Fullard, the Liberal Candidate in Whitby-Oshawa.

In an e-mail sent to everyone on Fullard's distribution list, May said, "I cannot help myself!!! GOOD LUCK BRENT. You and Doug together can expose the massive incompetence of Mr. Flaherty."

Stephen Harper's morning event in Winnipeg was billed as being at a market, but is in fact a food terminal, where big diesel trucks drop off food for grocery stores each day.

A good spot for an announcement on cutting diesel taxes, for example. And that is what we expect Harper will announce this morning!

Press gallery enthusiasts will know that the matter of who chooses which reporters will ask Stephen Harper questions during media availabilities has been a sensitive issue since he came to power. Should it be reporters shouting out at random? Or should the PM's communications staff pick and choose.

For the campaign, a compromise has been reached. Generally speaking, Stephen Harper will field eight questions each morning; four in English, four in French from the national media. Then two questions from local media.

CBC has learned that Stephen Harper is expected to announce a reduction in the excise tax on diesel fuel. He'll do this at a campaign stop in Winnipeg.

Short version of the answer from Stephen Harper today on whether the Conservatives will be buying carbon offsets for his campaign jet:

No.

It wasn't always converted Air Inuit cargo jets bearing the Liberal logo (or at least soon to be) when it came to moving Liberal leaders around during federal election campaigns.

Those who were with Paul Martin's two efforts in '04 and '05/'06 recall with misty-eyed fondness the chartered jet Liberals pulled back then.

This was noticed recently in previous campaigns and again on this one.

Now that reporters are sending in their stories from wireless laptops, mobile phones and BlackBerries and are doing so with constant and ever-pressing 24/7 deadlines, most if not all do so while flying (including even this note).

The election campaign must not be giving the Conservatives enough competition. Staffers took on the press gallery in an impromptu touch football game Monday night.

It's not clear what the final score was. But it seemed obvious to this reporter that the press gallery won hands down.

Of course the winning touchdown was caught by a Conservative supporter's son.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper began his tour by making a brief stop to the back of his campaign airplane. The talk with reporters was about another election — the one in the United States.

Harper said he's following that race very closely, although he confessed to missing the Republican vice presidential nominee's speech the other night.

He said it was on too late for someone who had a campaign of his own to plan.

Julie Couillard's book, My Life, will be released on October 6th, according to La Presse. The French version of the book will come out a couple of days earlier.

The book is said to contain details of Couillard's relationship with former External Affairs Minister, Maxime Bernier.
The original release date was supposed to be October 14, election day.

While the Bloc Quebécois and the Conservatives each eye the Quebec City area as a key battleground in this election, voters living near the city centre must feel awash in ballot box options.

The tree-lined streets of the city's west end are covered over with more election posters than many other communities. That's because, on top of the federal campaign, Quebec's three main provincial parties are waging a by-election here to replace premier Jean Charest's long-time health minister who quit last June.

The Liberals launch their two new sites at 9:00 EDT to combat the Conservative. But it's not a site focused on the leader.

A fairness play is how they are terming it.

It was, in the end, a bad day for Jack Layton.

The NDP leader delivered a very good speech in Vancouver-Kingsway with a strong turnout, including a gang of young Liberals waiting outside.

Jack Layton made a campaign stop today in Vancouver-Kingsway, the wealthy enclave that used to be the riding of David Emerson, the Liberal turned Conservative foreign affairs minister.

The NDP has traditionally done pretty well here and the party feels it has a chance with candidate Don Davies, particulary as Emerson isn't running again.

But the real point of coming here was to suggest that Liberals and Conservatives are all the same and it is only the NDP that can offer real change.

It even had a theme song to drive that message home: None other than that little ditty by The Who, "Don't get fooled again."

As it turns out, the NDP has used this song before. During the last election as a message for people NOT to vote Liberal.

Tonight Liberals in Quebec are celebrating.

They have a full roster of candidates to contest the province's 75 seats. The announcement was made in a north end buffet hall in the riding of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, which happens to be the riding of leader Stéphane Dion. Seventy of the 75 candidates crowded onto a stage with Dion to make the announcement.

In 2006, the Conservatives shocked the country and the Quebec City region by taking four of the six seats here.

The Bloc is determined to win back the seats but Gilles Duceppe has refused to say how the Bloc's campaign failed last time and what the party plans to do differently this time.

The blame game.

In denying Green Leader Elizabeth May a spot in the leaders' debate, the broadcasting consortium says it became a choice between a debate with four leaders or none at all.

It says three of the four other leaders threatened to pull out if an invite was given to May, but didn't say which ones. That led to the three opposition leaders quickly pointing the finger at Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

Reporters in the Liberal bus convoy were driving back from an event in Longueil, Que., this afternoon when they passed a surprise sight.

Walking down the sidewalk in downtown Montreal was a well-dressed man with a longish mane of silver hair.

As the NDP leader's tour touched down in Vancouver, reporters were given a chance to write stories and feed visuals.

It turns out that Jack Layton used the time to hit the hotel gym, something he tries to do as much as possible, especially during an election

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe says he still hasn't gotten to the bottom of what many in the province describe as "Le Mystere de Quebec" (The Quebec City Mystery).

In the 2006 election, the Conservatives virtually swept the greater Quebec City area, leaving just one Bloc MP.

Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe says even federalist voters who want to prevent Stephen Harper from winning a majority government ought to vote for the Bloc.

"Anyone who believes in an open society, and not a narrow, ideological viewpoint, have an interest, if they don't wish to live in that kind of society, to vote for the Bloc," Duceppe said in French to reporters.

Green party Leader Elizabeth May promised to campaign a little differently, a little more green than the other parties during an election campaign. She spoke of criss-crossing the country by train and invited the press to join her.

Sure, sure, it's a big country. But apparently, it's a very small campaign.

NDP Leader Jack Layton and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper could have almost met today at the Vancouver airport.

As Layton's plane hit the tarmac (gently) on the charter side, the Conservative plane was sitting and waiting.

Liberal leader Stéphane Dion won't have a plane until Wednesday.

The Conservatives have decided not to run a candidate in the riding of Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier.

The riding is currently held by independent MP and former controversial radio host, André Arthur.

Through no fault of their own, the Conservatives have got off on the wrong foot this campaign. They seem to have lost "the frame" in the first 24 hours.

At his launch yesterday Stephen Harper said the choice facing Canadians was between risk and certainty in difficult economic times. Stéphane Dion is "risk" and he, Harper, is "certainty". That was how Conservatives framed the contest.

Even a quick scan of media coverage this morning shows that didn't take.

Maybe it's the pos- 9/11 world we live in, or maybe it's still fallout from that spate of pie attacks on politicians a few years back (see Chrétien, Jean; and P.E.I.) but — gosh — it seemed there was a lot of security at this morning's Stephen Harper event at a suburban Richmond BC private residence.

Jack Layton played tour guide today.

After boarding his campaign plane early this morning (really early) we headed to Northern Alberta.

As the plane got near the oil sands, it dipped down to 5,000 feet so everyone could get a better look.

Sébastien Dhavernas, an actor in a popular television show called Le Temps d’une Paix, will be the Liberal’s choice in Outremont.

Yves Mondoux, a columnist at La Presse and television commentator, has become the NDP’s recruit in the riding of Sherbrooke.

Gilles Duceppe's campaign team left some reporters and Bloc Québécois supporters a little hot under the collar — literally — during a short stop in Trois-Rivieres on Monday.

The leader of the Parti Québécois, Pauline Marois, is in hospital today recovering from appendicitis.

She was supposed to appear with Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe to help launch his campaign.

Trying to clarify an unclear situation — the Bloc did participate in the 1993 debate on the basis of Gilles Duceppe's win in a 1990 by-election.

However, while he campaigned with Bloc signs, Parliament recognized him only as an "independent."

Following the listeriosis scare politicians are facing more and more questions about food safety during the campaign.

As in: "Would you eat cold cuts and would you feed it to your family." Stephane Dion was asked about it this morning on a radio interview in Montreal. He put an environmental twist on his answer, saying he tries to eat less meat these days because of the pollution produced by meat production.

Gilles Duceppe says he feels strongly that the Green Party should not be included in the debate because they have not elected an MP yet.

He points out the Bloc wasn't allowed to participate until they had done so, even though they had MPs (who crossed floor from Liberals and Tories).

Liberal leader Stephane Dion had a bumpy ride on the notoriously tough French-language Montreal radio morning talk show 98.5.

Host Paul Arcand wanted specifics on Liberal policies. But aside from the Green Shift, the party has yet to make any major policy announcements.

Conservatives are finally getting to use their high-tech war room in a campaign.

The party unveiled the sprawling facility in April of last year.

It's in an industrial park on the outskirts of Ottawa — far away from media offices, but kitted out with high-tech communications gear and their own TV studio.

This morning two members of cabinet, Jason Kenny and Lawrence Cannon, summoned reporters to the war room for an early news conference.

It was bound to happen.

As Jack Layton arrived at a community club in the riding of Calgary-Southwest (none other than the riding of Stephen Harper) he was greeted by a couple of friendly Conservatives.

Standing outside, Jeff Willerton and Merle Terlesky thought they should come to offer Layton a "good, old Calgary welcome." Except it probably wasn't the welcome Layton wanted.

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe stuck with a long-standing practice for politicians in Quebec when he attended an afternoon corn and hot dog roast at a popular bar in Montreal's Gay Village: He was very careful about what he was seen munching on in public.

Quebec politicians generally avoid eating hot dogs at public events where news crews are present because of an incident in the early-1970s, when then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau publicly ridiculed his Quebec counterpart, Robert Bourassa, as a "hot dog eater."

Anyone watching TV or listening to the radio this first Sunday morning of the campaign won't be force-fed a bunch of ravenous Liberals.

That's because Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has decided to hit the media-interview circuit before the rally circuit.

His team block-booked him yesterday, offering him up for a one on one with whichever news organizations wanted him.

The interview offers came before reporters travelling with the Liberal leader even knew what the schedule would be for the first day.

Dion made it clear in his first scrum that even though he has been the party leader for 20 months, Canadians don't know him well enough to consider him as a possible prime minister.

He believes the campaign will change that. Thus the early barrage of get-to-know-me interviews.

One almost overlooked aspect of Sunday's election call is the cancellation of three byelections, in which voters were expected to go to the polls tomorrow.

One of those affected is Liberal candidate Frank Valeriote, who is running in Guelph, Ont. Predictably, Valeriote echoes the assertion of his leader Stéphane Dion that Stephen Harper is calling the general election because he doesn't want to be seen having lost three (admittedly opposition-held) byelections.

But Valeriote also estimates that cancelling these byelections at the last minute like this will cost taxpayers $3.5 million in unnecessary election expenses.

Reporters covering the NDP leader's campaign were greeted by a smiling Jack Layton when they boarded the campaign plane.

There was also champagne and orange juice. And wee toasts with apricot jam and brie.

One of the first rules of successful election campaigning is to keep the press well-watered and well-fed, lest a hungry (or thirsty) horde take out their frustrations in a nasty report or two.

Oh. And there were shrimp as well.

What would an election campaign be without a catchy new theme song to pump up the troops? Today the Bloc unveiled its new anthem,which will be played ahead of all of Gilles Duceppe's stump speeches.

Set to a heavy rock beat, the song entitled "Le Bloc Repond Present" (The Bloc Calls Present), the gravelly voice of singer Matt Laurent belts out a rebellious tune over a wailing electric guitar, which, roughly translated, goes:

"I don't want to shut up / Or be told what to do / I stir things up in government departments / Don't wanna rent anymore / I want my own place / It's time to take back the land that's mine."

What's next? Gilles Duceppe rolling up to his campaign events on a Harley, in a black leather jacket and shades?

The Liberals have chosen high-profile income trust activist, Brent Fullard, to run against Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in the central Ontario riding of Whitby.

Fullard has been waging a fierce fight against the Conservative plan to tax income trusts, something the party promised not to do in the 2006 election.

Liberal campaign strategists say Fullard was chosen as part of a larger strategy to discredit the Conservatives' claims to strong economic management. And they want to do this right in the finance minister's backyard.

The Bloc's election platform has always been a bit of a strange animal. The party knows it will never take power because it exists only in one province, so its policies are almost solely of an opposition bent.

Back in 2006, the Bloc released its platform a few days into the campaign with great fanfare.

This time, reporters could simply pick it up at the media table while the party's electoral general council was meeting. What they came away with is a 232-page document full of detailed economic proposals and other demands — and amounting to over $40 billion in transfers to Quebec over several years.

There's a subtle rebranding going on in the NDP camp, one that may look familar if you've been following the latest rhetoric from American politics.

No longer are the NDP the New Democratic Party. In speeches and party communications, they're now referring to themselves as New Democrats. Like American Democrats, but newer. And Canadian.

The NDP message this campaign will be relying on a couple of other borrowed buzz words, too: Hope and Change.

These are the words that sustained U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's campaign. Or at least the ideals those words evoked. And if they worked for Barack, why not for Jack?

On Saturday morning, Montrealers woke up to a federal election one day earlier than other Canadians.

Overnight Bloc Québécois workers plastered the city with campaign posters featuring party leader Gilles Duceppe.

One Bloc official said the early start reflects the Bloc's election readiness, which was sorely tested when the actual campaign began.

Duceppe was forced to kick off his first day of the official campaign with a last-minute cancellation by one of his most important sovereigntist allies.

Later today Jack Layton hits enemy territory, well sorta.

The NDP leader is heading to the riding of Calgary Southwest, which is none other than the riding of Conservative leader Stephen Harper himself.

It is a symbolic gesture to make sure Canadians know that Layton is applying for the job of prime minister.

Gone are Layton's "lend me your vote" pleas from the 2006 campaign.

Gone, too, are the hopes of leap-frogging the Liberals and becoming leader of the opposition. This time Layton wants the big job.

Much ado this morning about how the political leaders intend to get about the country this election.

It began with news that the Liberals have leased a 30-year-old Boeing 737 for Stéphane Dion to tour the country.

Conservative bloggers were quick to write that the former cargo jet is far less fuel efficient than the more modern Airbus planes being used by both the Conservatives and NDP for their campaigns.

The sub-text: For a politician who intends to champion the environment as much as Dion is, the choice of such an old aircraft isn't very environmentally friendly.

Of course, this gibe would have to be matched against Stephen Harper's choice of transport this morning to Rideau Hall, the Governor General's official residence.

Traditionally, prime ministers stop just outside the doors of Rideau Hall to talk to reporters, right after they've convinced the Governor General to dissolve parliament.

Not Stephen Harper.

He decided to answer questions in front of a fountain, tucked away on the grounds of Rideau Hall.

The only problem, however, was that water was running in the fountain. And it threatened to, at the very least, be distracting while Harper was speaking, if not drown him out entirely.

As it turned out, the water gods were on his side: By the time the Conservative leader walked down from the main house at Rideau Hall, the fountain tap was turned off.