Tories think star Liberal is vulnerable

Last Updated: Friday, January 13, 2006 | 11:35 AM ET

CBC News

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was in a Toronto riding Thursday evening at a rally for the Tory candidate who hopes to beat a Liberal star on Jan. 23.

Polls suggest the Conservatives have had the momentum since the campaign resumed following the holidays, and Harper has in the past days been turning his attention to what had been considered safe Liberal ridings.

On Thursday Harper was in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, the riding held since 1993 by the Liberals and where the Liberal candidate is former Harvard professor Michael Ignatieff.

Michael Ignatieff in 2005.

• RIDING PROFILE: Etobicoke-Lakeshore

Harper told a rally he believes Conservative candidate John Capobianco can win.

"On Jan. 24, I predict people are going to wake up, they're going to see Michael Ignatieff going back to Harvard and John Capobianco going back to Ottawa," he said.

The Liberals are campaigning in this area of Ontario, with leader Paul Martin making the rounds in several cities on Friday, from Niagara Falls to Brantford. That could indicate the party's polls are showing many ridings are close races.

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Advance polls are open Friday, Saturday and Monday across the country. You can find your poll location by contacting Election Canada or by checking your voter information card.

Harper hopes his proposed GST cut will appeal to voters. On Thursday, the man who created the tax, former cabinet minister Michael Wilson, appeared on stage with Harper.

Wilson said the economy is better now than when he brought the tax in as the finance minister in the Brian Mulroney government.

"Taxes are temporary things," he said. "They're not made to be the same forever."

Liberals, and some economists, have argued it's better to cut personal income taxes than to cut consumption taxes such as the Goods and Services Tax.

Wilson says there's an argument for both kinds of tax cuts, but he supports Harper's choice.

"You change the income tax rates and you don't really notice it, but you change the GST, it can be very good at encouraging consumption," he said. "Consumption is two-thirds of our economy."

Harper's final tax-cut package was released in the party's platform document expected to be released Friday in Oakville, Ont.

NDP Leader Jack Layton is in Victoria, B.C., on Friday.