Platforms and promises are out there, now it’s a battle to get out the votes

OTTAWA – Platforms and promises have been laid out, dissected and fought over, but now the election campaign becomes a matter of getting the vote out.

The main party leaders are concerned as much about keeping up morale and enthusiasm among campaign workers as they are about attracting voters.

After thousands of kilometres of travel, dozens of speeches and hundreds of handshakes, the final days leading up to next Monday’s election will focus on the street-level, riding-by-riding effort and the volunteers who make it work.

They are the ones who do the leg work, identify supportive voters and make the reminder calls on election day to get people to the polls. That’s how campaigns are won or lost.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper starts his day in Asbestos, Que., a town much dependent on a much-maligned mineral, which Harper has supported. He finishes the day with an Ottawa rally.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, who flew to Vancouver from Thunder Bay on Monday, will open his day with an announcement there and be in Winnipeg by evening.

And New Democrat Leader Jack Layton starts the day in Montreal, basking in higher-than-ever support levels in Quebec. He’ll be in Toronto by dinner time.

Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc, eyeing possible leakage of support to the NDP, has turned his guns on that party and even brought out separatist champion Jacques Parizeau on Monday to warn people against Layton’s charms.

Harper, who has been leading since Day 1 of the campaign and is always the focal point of the election, is striving to stay on message and avoid a last-minute gaffe.

Ignatieff is fighting on two fronts, desperate to pull votes from the Tories, while equally concerned to staunch possible leaks of his own to the surging NDP. The Liberals aired a new attack ad on Monday, accusing Layton and Harper of being two sides of the same coin.

Ignatieff says his party is the party of the centre, the one most sensitive to the needs of families and ordinary folks.

With polls suggesting the NDP is at unheard-of levels of support, Layton has been fighting an old bogeyman: That voting NDP splits the left-of-centre vote and gives Harper a cakewalk to majority.

"This is what Canadians have been told for so many years, that they don’t have any choice, they can only choose one of two parties," he said.

He also found his platform under close and critical scrutiny, something the NDP traditionally doesn’t face because it’s seen as the perennial bridesmaid.

Ignatieff was especially critical of an NDP promise of a cap-and-trade emissions system which the party claims would generate $3.6 billion in its first year.

Can’t be done that fast, said Ignatieff.

Layton said if the revenues don’t come in as planned, he’ll alter his plans to account for that and keep a balanced budget. But he wouldn’t say what promises or policies he would jettison.

Harper is keeping a low profile, telling people that an election victory will just allow him to get back to work. Win on Monday, back in the office on Tuesday, he said.

"We will be able to hit the ground running."

A majority would be nice, he added.