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NDP LeaderJack Layton speaks at a campaign rally in Winnipeg on April 27, 2011.FRED GREENSLADE/Reuters

Jack Layton blamed the absence of a Vegas-vacationing candidate on the lack of fixed election dates today, as questions mounted about his slate of Quebec standard-bearers.

Mr. Layton's candidate in Quebec's Berthier-Maskinongé riding, Ruth Ellen Brosseau, had spent the election campaign working in Ottawa, three hours drive away, until she left for a vacation in Las Vegas.

It's a case that highlights questions about the readiness of the NDP in Quebec. Doubts have been raised about the commitment of candidates who were recruited before the party's sudden rise in the polls for ridings where they once had no hope of winning, but who now may well become MPs.

Mr. Layton, who helped trigger the current election campaign by joining other opposition leaders in a vote of no-confidence, said candidates like Ms. Brosseau can't plan for unforeseen campaigns, and blamed it on the rules.

"If we had fixed election dates, then families of candidates could make their plans. Unfortunately we don't even though it's the law. It doesn't seem to happen that way. We've got candidates from all kinds of backgrounds," he said. "We're proud of the team. And they've had to make as many family adjustments as they can. We're hoping to have representatives of ordinary Canadians in the House of Commons. That's our goal."

On Tuesday, the NDP explained that Ms. Brosseau was a single mother who obtained an inexpensive fare to Las Vegas, and couldn't change her plans. But Mr. Layton offered no explanation for why she wasn't campaigning in the riding before she left on vacation, or why the NDP didn't offer to help pay costs so she could campaign.

In fact, Ms. Brosseau's boss at Oliver's, a bar at Ottawa's Carleton University, Rod Castro, said he had no idea that Ms. Brosseau, his assistant manager, was running for office, and that she'd never mentioned politics in the two years they worked together.

Although the NDP has some star candidates in Quebec - like a former MP, a former union leader, and former aboriginal leaders - some ridings have NDP candidates who have barely been seen during the campaign. For Mr. Layton, it is an embarrassing side-effect of a sudden, unexpected NDP rise in the province.

The NDP Leader, who earlier in the campaign attacked Liberal Leader Michael for missing Commons votes by saying that if you're seeking a promotion, you should show up for work, maintained that his candidates are working hard. Only after repeated questions about those missing in action or on vacation did he suggest that it's not an ideal situation.

"Every party's going to have some challenges in this area, but we think that our team is ready to work hard and demonstrates that each and every day as they're campaigning across this country," he said

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