On the campaign trail: The weekend photo recap
The party leaders: Where they went and what they said on Saturday April 16 and Sunday April 17
The Liberals went negative in their television advertising this weekend with an ad campaign claiming Conservative promises to scale back government spending will ultimately result in cuts to health care. "Where would Harper's cuts leave your family's health," the narrator asks. "The stakes are too high. Vote Liberal." Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff continued with the health-care message at a rally in Edmonton with the help of former Prime Minister Paul Martin who criticized the Conservatives for numbers in the party's platform that were different than those in the budget just a few weeks earlier. On Sunday Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Martin were in Vancouver where the Liberal Leader promised to hold a First Ministers meeting on health care with the provinces and territories. He also brushed off Mr. Harper's claims that only a Conservative majority can prevent the country from breaking apart. (Photo: Mr. Ignatieff, left, does the hip flick game with comedian and self-proclaimed 'guerilla journalist' Nardwuar)Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was in Vancouver on Saturday where he addressed a Sikh street festival in a continued bid for the ethnic vote. He also promoted his platform promises on crime. Mr. Harper dismissed the Liberal's attack add saying that it was the Liberals who cut health-care funding, not the Conservatives. On Sunday, he ratched up his warnings against a Liberal-led minority government, saying it would advance the cause of Quebec separatism. At a weekend rally in Burnaby, he warned against an unstable Parliament in which the Bloc Québécois would "exploit any incoherence or instability for its own purposes." Mr. Harper also vowed to reintroduce legislation that would intern refugee claimants who arrived on Canada's shores en masse, as two groups of Tamils have by ship within the past 18 months. (Photo: Stephen Harper serves dim sum at the Continental Seafood Restaurant in Richmond, B.C.)Ben Nelms/Reuters
NDP Leader Jack Layton was in St. John's, N.L., Saturday visiting local business owners and holding a campaign rally. Touring Nova Scotia on Sunday, he pledged to introduce changes to the Criminal Code that would increase penalties for those convicted of abusing seniors. He also had to put out fires after his sister mistakenly told a St. John's shopkeeper that he'd had a hip replacement. He clarified Sunday saying there are metal inserts in his hip to reinforce the bone but that he has not undergone hip replacement surgery. (Photo: NDP Leader Jack Layton plays the accordion flanked by local candidates Ryan Cleary, left, and Jack Harris while visiting a music shop on Saturday.)Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe started Saturday morning with a breakfast with supporters in Quebec City, followed by a speech to union workers. He then traveled to St-Tite to visit a micro-brewery. On Sunday, at a Parti Quebecois policy convention that reaffirmed Pauline Marois' leadership, Mr. Duceppe said that Quebeckers had taken a further step down the path to sovereignty. "We have only one task to accomplish," he told delegates. "Elect the maximum number of sovereigntists in Ottawa and then we go to the next phase: electing a PQ government. "A strong Bloc in Ottawa. The PQ in power in Quebec. And everything again becomes possible." (Photo: Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe (2nd R) speaks with Pauline Marois (R), leader of the Parti Quebecois)Christinne Muschi/Reuters