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With election speculation reaching fever pitch even before the House resumes sitting, MPs fan out for photo ops across the country

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Duff Conacher speaks with reporters during a break from proceedings in Federal Court on Sept. 8, 2009. Democracy Watch is challenging Prime Minister Stephen Harper's snap 2008 election call, arguing he broke his own fixed-date law in doing so.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

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Gilles Duceppe unveils a pre-election ad campaign after a Bloc Quebecois caucus meeting on Sept. 8, 2009. The ad suggests Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff are one in the same when it comes to Quebec.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press

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Elizabeth May introduces herself to members of the Peninsula Newcomers Club outside a cafe in Sidney, B.C., on Tuesday. The Green Party Leader announced she will seek the nomination in the federal election of Saanich-Gulf Islands.Deddeda Stemler

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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff tests a new medical device from Mespere Life Sciences during a campaign-style stop at the Accelerator Centre, a small high-tech incubator facility in Waterloo, Ont., on Sept. 8, 2009.GEOFF ROBINS/Reuters

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The Liberal Leader also visited video-game developer Frozen North Productions at the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, Ont.GEOFF ROBINS/Reuters

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Heritage Minister James Moore celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act with Shelly Glover, his parliamentary secretary and the MP for Saint-Boniface, on Sept. 8, 2009, in Ottawa.

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Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan, middle, is shown with Halifax deputy police chief Chris McNeil and Nova Scotia Attorney-General Ross Landry on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. Mr. Van Loan announced close to $2-million in crime prevention funding and said a fall election would jeopardize key law-an-order legislation.Mike Dembeck

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Industry Minister Tony Clement holds up a sample of composite piping used in aircraft construction at the NRC Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Centre at the University of Montreal on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

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Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt tours the Greenfield Ethanol plant in Johnstown, near Prescott, Ont., on Sept. 9, 2009.FRED CHARTRAND/The Canadian Press

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A page arranges a desk in the House of Commons on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009, in preparation for the return of Parliament the following week.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters

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The House of Commons lies empty Thursday after the summer recess.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

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Cleaning staff prepare the Senate for the next session, which begins Sept. 14 amid heightened threat of a snap election.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

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The Senate carpet gets a once-over on Sept. 10, 2009.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters

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An Inuit boy takes part in ceremonies on Parliament Hill on Sept. 10, 2009, marking World Suicide Prevention Day.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

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Stephen Harper shakes hands with New Brunswick's incoming lieutenant-governor, Graydon Nicholas, during a meeting in the Prime Minister's Langevin Block office. Mr. Harper also named a new chief justice of the Federal Court of Appeal on Sept. 10, 2009.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters

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Speaking in Montreal, Michael Ignatieff responds to a question about Stephen Harper's suggestion he's plotting to form another coalition with 'socialists and separatists.' The Liberal Leader replied that he could have been prime minister, 'but I turned it down.'Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

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A luncheon crowd takes in remarks by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty at the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 10, 2009.ARNOLD LIM/The Canadian Press

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tells the Greater Victoria Chamber that Ottawa will run deficits for two years longer than originally forecast and the country will be in the red at least until 2015, though he wouldn't ped a specific date for deficit elimination.ARNOLD LIM/The Canadian Press

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An invitation to hear NDP Leader Jack Layton speak is chalked on a sidewalk at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver on Sept. 10, 2009.ANDY CLARK/Reuters

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A student arrives to attend a question and answer session with Jack Layton in the party room of the UBC student union building.ANDY CLARK/Reuters

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NDP Leader Jack Layton answers questions at the University of British Columbia on Sept. 10, 2009.ANDY CLARK/Reuters

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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff rules out forming a coalition government with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois during a news conference in the foyer of the House of Commons on Sept. 11, 2009.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters

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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff takes questions during his news conference on Parliament Hill.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announces federal stimulus funding for infrastructure projects in Toronto on Sept. 11, 2009.Colin Perkel/The Canadian Press

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper listens as names of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks are read during a memorial service in Ottawa on Sept. 11, 2009.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff comforts his wife, Zsuzsanna Zsohar, and Sharon Davis, whose son was killed in Afghanistan, during a 9/11 memorial service in Ottawa.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper lays a wreath with Maureen Basnicki, whose husband Ken was killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters

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