Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe was in full campaign mode on Good Friday, trying to staunch what recent polls indicate is a sharp rise in NDP support among voters in his province, as the other party leaders mostly took a break.
Duceppe scheduled a full day of campaign-related activities, paying a visit to an aboriginal friendship centre, a seniors' home and a family farm in western Quebec.
Duceppe came with a message that supporting the NDP will help split the vote in Quebec and win the Tories win seats in the province, CTV's Richard Madan reported.
"I'll fight very hard until the very end to stop them having a majority," Duceppe told reporters, referring to the Conservatives.
Recent polls suggesting Layton and his NDP are stealing his party's support will surely be top of mind.
Two polls released Thursday suggest the New Democrats have cracked the Bloc's long held lock on Quebec voters. And though the party had little support a decade ago -- garnering less than two per cent of the vote in Quebec in 2000 -- they now enjoy support in the mid-20s.
While Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff have taken the holiday off, Layton was scheduled to take part in a Good Friday procession in Toronto.
Layton said Thursday he felt that his consistent campaign message was striking a chord with voters tired of the Liberals and Conservatives trading the reins of power.
"We have stuck to our proposition that the same-old, same-old parties in Ottawa aren't going to solve the problems that are facing people. We've seen it for years and they always tell us we have only two choices: We have to go back and forth.
"I don't accept that proposition, our party doesn't, and I think a lot of Canadians don't like to be told what to do," he said, concluding that voters now have "a real choice."
Marcel Martel, a professor at York University, said that Layton "is the factor" in the election campaign at the moment.
"I think the next week will be quite crucial," he told CTV News Channel.
One sign of the party's success may be that the Conservatives have launched their first attack ad against the NDP, which New Democrat candidate Paul Dewar dismissed Friday as "a sign of desperation."
With Harper and Ignatieff choosing to take Good Friday off, the common wisdom dictates that voters won't notice their absence since they tend to "tune out" of election happenings during the holidays.
But Harris-Decima chairman Allan Gregg says there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that isn't necessarily true.
Gregg tells The Canadian Press that holidays are actually one of the few times voters can sit down with their family and friends to discuss the election campaign so far.
This year, voters will likely be discussing such recent election hot potatoes as comments by a Tory backbencher about re-igniting the abortion debate, or allegations that a key Tory spokesperson may have tried to influence the selection of the head of the Port of Montreal.
They might also speculate on whether Ignatieff and the Liberals have been successful enough at getting their message out in order to steal power from the Tories.
Those Canadian who have made up their mind about how they'll vote can begin taking advantage of advance polls, which open across the country today.
Doors opened at noon at 4,700 advance poll stations across Canada, and will stay open until 8 p.m. on Friday. The times will be the same again on Saturday and on Easter Monday.
About 1.5 million Canadians voted in advance polls during last election. That was an increase over the 1.2 million Canadians who cast valid votes in the 2004 election that reduced the Paul Martin-led Liberals to a minority government.
Madan said there were long lineups at some advanced poll stations Friday, suggesting the turnout ahead of election day may be higher than in 2008. Some voters complained they waited more than an hour to cast their ballot.
