Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will make a policy announcement Monday promising if elected to create an income-splitting tax break for families with children under the age of 18, CTV News has learned.
However, the Conservatives said the policy would only come into effect after the budget is balanced, which is not planned to happen for another four years.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Harper continued to accuse Michael Ignatieff of planning to govern the country by forming a coalition government with the NDP and Bloc Quebecois.
Ignatieff said Saturday he would not form a coalition government and that the party that won the most seats earned the right to form government, but Harper has continued to attack the Liberal leader on the issue.
"They don't think they need to win this election," Harper told a Conservative rally in Brampton, Ont. "Just hold us to another minority and they will move with lightning speed to recreate and impose their reckless coalition on Canadians."
The accusation stems from 2008 when former Liberal leader Stephane Dion signed a coalition agreement with NDP Leader Jack Layton, along with a written pledge of support from Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe. At the time, the Conservative government faced defeat in a looming confidence motion.
Meanwhile, Duceppe has accused Harper of hypocrisy, saying he supported the idea of a coalition with the Bloc in 2004. That year, Harper, Duceppe and Layton sent a letter to the Governor General noting that the three parties had enough seats for a majority if Paul Martin's minority government fell.
However, they never used the word "coalition." And on Sunday, Harper said there was another key difference. In 2008, the opposition parties signed a specific coalition agreement, and were set to topple the government.
"We did not bring in a non-confidence motion to overturn the government, we brought in a non-confidence motion to force an election," Harper said. "That is how we became the government. We won an election with the most number of seats. That was my position then and that is my position now."
In Brampton, Harper said that job growth was his main concern and that voting for anyone but the Conservatives would threaten the country's economic stability.
"That is what this election is going to be about, creating jobs and financial security and keeping our economy moving in the right direction," he said.
Harper's early appearance in the Toronto area underlines his party's desire to make gains in the vote-rich region. Toronto has traditionally been a Liberal stronghold, but the Conservatives have made recent gains in the surrounding suburbs.
Other party leaders fanned across the country from Quebec to British Columbia on Sunday, targeting key battlegrounds ahead of the May 2 vote.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff kicked off his campaign by meeting with candidate Martin Cauchon in Montreal's Outremont riding. The Liberals hope to regain the seat, which is currently held by the NDP's Thomas Mulcair.
Ignatieff later visited Montreal's Papineau riding held by Justin Trudeau, one of 14 Liberal MPs in Quebec.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe started off in Laval, Que., a Bloc-held riding that also historically features strong Liberal support. The Bloc's 47 seats will be targets for the three other parties as they look to shore up support in the province.
NDP Leader Jack Layton attended a rally in Surrey, B.C., before meeting with local business owners. Layton's party lost the Surrey-North riding to the Conservatives in the last election and is seeking to win it back.
Harper flew across the country Sunday afternoon to Burnaby, B.C. where he delivered the same speech as he did in Brampton.
