Party Leaders Make a Final Push for Votes

[projekktor id=’21469′]

We’re into the final weekend of the 78 day federal election campaign and the main party leaders are continuing the push for support as it looks like we’re in for a very close finish when the votes are counted Monday.

The leaders are also addressing lingering issues that have come up along the campaign trail. Conservative leader Stephen Harper’s government has often found itself at odds with a judiciary that has struck down laws and regulations crafted to reflect conservative values which the party says are values of most Canadians. Despite this, Harper says the relationship between the two branches of government is as it should be.

Meanwhile, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau continues to battle the fallout from the resignation of his former campaign co-chair, Dan Gagnier, who sent an email advising a pipeline company on how to lobby governments for projects. But Trudeau is putting a positive spin on the ouster of Dan Gagnier.

NDP leader Tom Muclair got a first hand look the town of Lac-Megantic two years after it was destroyed by a train derailment. Mulcair says his party would order a public inquiry into the Lac-Megantic disaster and overall rail safety in Canada.

On Saturday, Stephen Harper will be in Laval, Quebec.   The Conservatives are hoping to double its existing seat count from five to 10 in Quebec.

The Conservative leader is also scheduled to show up at an event being held in Toronto Saturday night that’s being supported by city councillor and former mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug.

Harper is being criticized for attending an earlier event with the Fords who have a strong voter base that may be able to provide some crucial Toronto seats to the Conservatives.

Harper will also make a stop in Oakville, where he will appear with Conservative candidate Terence Young.  At a recent all-candidates debate, Young made the controversial comment that a federal Liberal government would mandate “legally protected brothels with madams and all that goes with that because the Liberals have promised to legalize the selling of women in Canada.”

Trudeau will begin Saturday in Halifax before continuing on to Saint John and then to Thunder Bay before flying to Winnipeg.  That will be the Liberal leaders third stop in the city as the party hopes it has an opportunity to gain four or five ridings in Manitoba.   The Liberal leader will end up in B.C. on Sunday where, by all accounts, it’s a very close race, before heading back to Quebec for election day.

Mulcair’s schedule will include a whirlwind trip across the country.  The NDP leader will go from Vancouver to Toronto to Montreal for campaign rallies.

On election night, CHCH will have special coverage.  “Your Home, Your Vote” will give you live local and national results on election night — as well as special guests and a panel of experts. Coverage starts Monday at 9 pm.