Conservative Leader Stephen Harper announced plans Thursday to go after gas companies with price fixing legislation that would make it easier to prove collusion.
Tories say they will widen the price-fixing provisions in the Competition Act and almost triple the maximum penalties to 14 years in prison and a $25-million fine.
He also promised to restrict text message charges and crack down on overcharging for home heating, as part of new measures to protect consumers.
The announcement appeared to be a two-pronged attempt to ease Canadians' financial jitters through targeting both economic crime and unfair business practices, in one sweep.
Speaking in Victoria, B.C., Harper reiterated the stance he has maintained since the campaign began -- that the Conservatives are the only party fit to navigate the waters of global economic uncertainty.
He said the Conservatives, if re-elected, would make it easier to investigate and prosecute economic crimes, raise penalties for deceptive marketing, and crack down on cartels and price fixing.
"We are a party that believes in free enterprise, free trade and free markets -- these things form the cornerstone of our prosperity," Harper said.
"But they do not absolve government from obligations to the population."
The measures to restrict text message charges come after wireless communications companies announced their intention to charge customers for incoming text messages earlier this year.
"A re-elected Conservative government would prevent telecommunications companies for charging fees for unsolicited text messages," Harper said.
They would also create a code of conduct for wireless service providers and provide a mechanism for consumers to file complaints.
The Conservatives would also crack down on Internet spam, he said.
Harper was campaigning in key British Columbia battlegrounds where the Conservatives hope to gain new ground.
The NDP called the Tory plan and pale version of their own platform.
Dion in Quebec
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, meanwhile, was in Quebec City where he pledged a new era of co-operation with Quebec.
He said a Liberal government would strengthen the province's economy by cutting income and business taxes, rewarding businesses that invest in "green capital", invest in renewable energy and research and development, and invest in infrastructure.
Dion said Harper and the Conservatives have abandoned Quebec.
"In uncertain economic times, the evidence is clear," Dion said.
"Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec Jean-Pierre Blackburn cut important funding to regional economic development. Conservatives signed a bad softwood lumber deal that gutted Quebec communities. Stephen Harper has failed to invest in the Canadian economy to keep it strong."
Layton in B.C.
New Democrat Leader Jack Layton was also in B.C. on Thursday, where he blasted Harper along with Dion and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell over the contentious carbon tax issue.
Layton said Harper has been talking tough in his attacks on Dion's carbon tax plans -- but he said the Conservative leader stood by and let Campbell implement his provincial carbon tax.
"Campbell slapped on his carbon tax and hurt families here in B.C. Bay Street Harper let it happen. He says he's against it now, but his Bay Street ministers sing a different tune. They said that carbon tax was just fine," Layton said in a release.
He also said Harper has done little to lower prices at the pumps.
Layton also warned Dion's "Green Shift" plan would triple Campbell's carbon tax in B.C.
"As prime minister, I'll make sure a federal carbon tax never sees the light of day," Layton pledged.
Economic uncertainty
In a televised address Wednesday night, U.S. President George Bush warned of a "long and painful recession" if Congress fails to approve a massive $700-billion bailout for Wall Street.
That came on the same day a Merrill Lynch report warned Canada is at risk of following the U.S. into a devastating housing slump.
CTV's Lisa LaFlamme said Canadians are concerned about the economic woes south of the border, and the opposition leaders are trying to capitalize on that sentiment in the key battlegrounds of British Columbia and Quebec.
"There probably isn't a Canadian who woke up today without thinking how is it going to impact us?" LaFlamme told CTV Newsnet.
Polls show by far that the economy is the most important issue for Canadians.
