The leader of the Bloc Québécois is describing this last stage of the election campaign as the "final sprint," suggesting he will somehow turn on the jets in his campaign which has kept a steady, unharried pace ever since it pranced out of the starting blocks four weeks ago today (one day before the real campaign began when the Governor General agreed to dissolve parliament at Stephen Harper's request).

Tim Duboyce

In fact, Gilles Duceppe's core message hasn't changed since Day 1: "The Bloc is the only party in Quebec which can beat the Conservatives, and prevent Harper from forming a majority government."

A couple of negative TV commercials (both anti-Harper), a decent performance in the debates, and now, the "final sprint."

It begins with what the Bloc is promising will be a large scale rally in Saint-Hyacinthe, a farming town east of Montreal, and one of the ridings the Conservatives have suggested they might win.

The party has reserved the grand ballroom at the town's only large hotel, so it sounds as though they're expecting at least 1,000 people, which would make it the largest event of the Bloc campaign thus far.

Then, Duceppe will take his tour to a series of ridings at risk, including Trois-Rivières, and Sherbrooke.

Then Saguenay and Quebec City, where party organizers say they are hopeful of making gains (including victory in the riding of Jonquière - Alma, home of Conservative minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn).

— Tim Duboyce