Leaders scramble for votes on campaign’s final day, shut down news conferences

OTTAWA – As they scramble to reach key ridings on the final day of the election campaign, the two federal leaders with the most to lose are moving to keep missteps to a minimum.

In a startling departure, NDP Leader Jack Layton has joined Conservative rival Stephen Harper in deciding not to hold any further news conferences, according to a tweet posted early Sunday.

Aides say Harper, who has battled with the media throughout the campaign and limited news conferences to five questions a day, will take no more questions from reporters.

The move follows a testy exchange Saturday with a reporter who pressed Harper on whether he would accept the decision of the Governor General should a minority Conservative government again lose the confidence of the Commons and the next-biggest party was asked to form government.

Harper said he would not answer hypothetical questions, and when the reporter continued, Conservative supporters started booing.

The prime minister is, however, continuing to press his message at carefully scripted campaign rallies, including the first of the day at an elementary school in Stratford, P.E.I., just outside of Charlottetown.

The Conservatives hope to pick up at least one riding on the island, putting former provincial cabinet minister Mike Currie up against longtime Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay.

And while he has been focusing his gaze most intently on the fast-closing NDP, he took pains to accuse Michael Ignatieff of taking the Liberals away from the party’s traditional roots.

“The best he can now hope for is to be a back-seat passenger in an NDP government,” Harper said.

“Let’s be clear to everybody: a vote for the NDP is not a protest vote. A vote for the NDP is a vote for an NDP government. A vote for a Liberal is now a vote for an NDP government.”

Remarkably, Harper who has himself for so long been the target of strategic voting rhetoric is now urging Liberal voters to support the Conservatives in an effort to block the NDP.

“Let me be clear to traditional Liberal voters. Many of you do not want NDP economic policies, you do not want NDP tax hikes, and to make sure that the next Parliament does not raise taxes, Canada now needs a strong economy and it can get it with a stable Conservative majority.”

Harper was scheduled to make an afternoon stop at another riding the party is hoping to pick up from the Liberals, in London, Ont., before wrapping up in Abbotsford, B.C.

Layton, meanwhile, made a morning pitch for votes in Montreal before heading to Toronto, with whistle-stops in Kingston, Ont and Oshawa, Ont.

The New Democrats are aiming for a historic breakthrough, based largely on rising support in Quebec.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is making five stops in the Toronto area to defend a traditional stronghold from the aggressive Conservative push in the region.

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