MISSISSAUGA -

The release of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's election platform Friday proved the old maxim that, in an election campaign, everything can change in a day.

In this case it was the Conservatives' fiscal blueprint that underwent a pair of multibillion-dollar facelifts in the span of just a few minutes -- first with the promise of deep spending cuts and then, moments later, of a major health-care funding commitment.

One thing did remain constant throughout the day: It was never made clear where the political parties would find the money to pay for their election promises.

The Conservatives vowed to erase the deficit a year earlier than scheduled by slashing $11 billion in government spending -- but they said little about what they would cut.

Then, minutes after releasing their platform, the Tories promised to temporarily continue the six-per-cent annual increases in health-care spending currently set to expire in 2014.

On that front, they were merely echoing the Liberals.

The day of duelling health promises began with an open letter released Friday morning by Michael Ignatieff, who promised an extension of the annual six-per-cent increases.

That significant spending commitment -- which is worth about $2 billion per year -- was not included in either of the parties' election platforms, including the one released by Harper on Friday.

The Conservatives had entered the election promising to campaign on the budget they introduced March 22.

Now their platform promises to erase the deficit a year earlier, in 2014-15, while continuing to boost health funding and slashing spending through a comprehensive program review.

"This is the map for the road ahead, not a scrapbook of a journey we have taken," Harper told several hundred supporters at a platform launch event.

"Or, perhaps more accurately when I speak of the other side -- not a brochure of all the places they promised they'd take us but never did because they couldn't really afford it."

The journey taken by Canada's federal finances has included budget deficits since January 2009; only weeks earlier, the newly re-elected Conservative government had been insisting the books would be balanced.

In this election, all the parties are pledging fiscal discipline while also finding additional money for health care.

Ignatieff's "open letter" to Canadians pledged to extend the 2004 funding arrangement between Paul Martin and the provinces beyond its scheduled 10-year expiry date.

"The provinces are coping with budgetary deficits and spiralling health care costs," Ignatieff said.

"It is critical that a new federal government commits to investing in health care beyond 2014, so that provinces can get on with the job of reforming our health care system."

The Tory commitment is slightly less definitive. Harper's party says its health pledge, along with the rest of its platform cost projections, only apply to the two-year period after the agreement expires, through 2016.

Harper's health announcement was perhaps the biggest surprise of his platform launch.

Most of the measures in the document were announced earlier in the campaign or in the recent federal budget.

They include a $2.5-billion income-splitting program, which involves shifting revenue from a better-paid spouse to a lower-paid spouse to reduce the overall tax paid by a couple.

The policy, which would only come into effect once the federal books are balanced, applies to couples with dependent children under 18. The plan's critics say it would benefit wealthy Canadians while draining federal finances of funds that could help people who need it more.

The platform also includes $2.2 billion to compensate Quebec for harmonizing the GST and PST. That money would flow over the next two years -- after a compensation deal is reached with the province.

The 67-page document touches on a hodge-podge of subjects, ranging from a plan to publish the expenses of aboriginal chiefs to celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.

But it focuses on five priorities: creating jobs, supporting families, eliminating the deficit, getting tough on crime and investing in the North.

It's aimed at every nook and cranny of voter support the Tories hope to win, from new immigrants to middle-class families.

Even hockey moms and dads get a nod with a promise to put defibrillators in arenas across the country.

For the party's grassroots, there are also the old Tory chestnuts of Senate reform and the end of per-vote subsidies for political parties.

Noteworthy new initiatives include a national counter-terrorism strategy and the creation of an office of religious freedom within the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The office, which would cost $20 million over four years, would monitor and promote religious freedom as a key objective of Canadian foreign policy, the platform said.

Harper said the spending cuts required to lift the country out of deficit won't hurt programs: "We're going to be able to find that two, three per cent of government spending that we need to find to get the fat out."

One example he cited was consolidating the government's computer system.

At his Etobicoke-Lakeshore campaign office, Ignatieff didn't comment on the specifics of the platform, only its name.

"It's called 'Here for Canada' and I sometimes think he's got one word wrong," Ignatieff told supporters.

"It should actually read 'Fear for Canada."'

Jack Layton released the NDP's defence platform in Esquimalt, B.C. -- home to Canada's Pacific fleet -- making replacement of the navy's aging supply ships the top priority.

The NDP leader said all navy ships would be built in Canada, creating thousands of jobs and pouring billions of dollars into the economy.

He also said he would review the purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter and possibly put the CF-18 replacement out to open tender.

The platform launch marked Harper's third straight day in the greater Toronto area, where the Tories hope to pick up seats from the Liberals.