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Harper wants Quebec MPs for cabinet

Last Updated: Monday, January 16, 2006 | 8:51 AM ET

With one week to go before the election, the party leaders have fanned out across the country for their last chances to garner support.

Liberal Leader Paul Martin has to gain ground on the Conservatives, who are now widely seen as holding a significant lead in polls across the country. Martin held rallies in North Bay, Ont., and Edmonton on Sunday, and gives a speech in Vancouver on Monday, trying to increase Liberal fortunes in B.C.'s lower mainland.

Stephen Harper is in Atlantic Canada on Monday, hoping to build on the Conservatives' momentum. The region has been lukewarm to his party in recent elections.

He was in Quebec on Sunday, suggesting the province needs to elect some Tories so a Quebecer can take a seat in his cabinet.

About 200 supporters greeted Harper at the community hall in Buckingham, Que. Harper has been telling voters in Quebec that the Bloc Québécois is not their only alternative to the Liberals.

Now he wants his supporters to reach out to Bloc voters, too.

"If they want an honest government which respects the unique personality of Quebec, tell them we will do that," he said.

The Conservatives entered the campaign with little support in Quebec, where the race was seen as a duel between the Bloc and the Liberals. Recent polls have suggested, however, that the Tories have overtaken the Liberals and stand a chance of winning a small number of seats.

Promises left out of endorsed platform

Meanwhile, the Conservative platform released on Friday had a shadow cast over it on the weekend when economist Paul Darby said the platform he had endorsed in December didn't mention two key Tory promises.

Darby, who is with the Conference Board of Canada, wrote a letter in December saying the platform was fiscally sound and would result in surpluses.

On Sunday, he said promises about fixing the fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces, and a guaranteed limit on patient wait times were not in the version he evaluated.

The Tory campaign office issued a statement from Darby on Sunday night reaffirming his statement from December that the platform is sound.

Other leaders

NDP Leader Jack Layton makes appearances in Toronto and Halifax on Monday. In Toronto, Layton hopes to pick up seats in a city that has been solidly Liberal for a decade.

The Bloc's Gilles Duceppe spends the day in Montreal.

Green party Leader Jim Harris visits Port Carling and Barrie, Ont.

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