OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is accusing Prime Minister Stephen Harper of character assassination and says he will use next week's televised debates to show Canadians who he really is and what he stands for.

An increasingly frustrated Dion responded Saturday to new polls that show his party languishing with support levels in the low to mid-20 per cent range and the New Democrats closing in from behind.

"Never has a government spent so much to destroy a person and his policies as Harper has towards me," Dion said during a campaign event in Stoney Creek, Ont., just outside Hamilton.

He said the leaders' debates Wednesday and Thursday will allow him to reach out to voters and illustrate that neither he nor his policies bear any resemblance to the picture painted by Harper and his party's aggressive attack ads.

"I think Canadians are dying to vote Liberal," he said.

"It's for us to tell them we have ... a team, with a leader, with an action plan ...for the challenge of today."

Dion was particularly incensed with Harper's suggestion Friday that the opposition parties, most notably the Liberal leader himself, are wishing for a recession in order to make political gains.

The charge goes beyond the pale, Dion said as he contrasted Harper's style with Friday night's combative but civil debate between U.S. presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama.

"I have seen two men arguing with very different ideas about what to do in Iraq and Afghanistan ... (but) I didn't hear one of them accuse the other of being pro-Taliban as Harper did in the House of Commons," he said.

"None of them accused the other one of cheering for a recession."

Two polls released Saturday showed the Conservatives building and solidifying their position near majority territory, with the NDP gaining to challenge the Liberals for second place.

The latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll found the Tories at 38 per cent, the NDP reaching 19 per cent -- up five points at the start of the campaign -- and the Liberals stagnant at 23 per cent, about where they've been for a week.

An Angus Reid Strategies survey placed the Tories at 40 per cent with the Liberals and NDP deadlocked at 21 per cent.

"What you are seeing is votes that don't want to go Conservative and normally would coalesce around the Liberals, seem resistant to doing that ...and going to the NDP," said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson.

"It's possible NDP Leader Jack Layton can make an historic breakthrough," Anderson added -- particularly if Layton can convince enough Canadians that the party has moved to the centre.

It's unlikely Conservative attacks on Dion have been as damaging to the Liberals as Dion claims, said Anderson, who cites instead Dion's inability thus far to clearly articulate his message and present a compelling alternative to Harper.

Meanwhile, Liberal deputy leader Michael Ignatieff, campaigning with Dion in southwestern Ontario, appealed to NDP and Green supporters to move to the Liberals because they have no chance of forming the government.

"If you want child care, if you want real action on the environment, if you want justice for aboriginal Canadians, if you want a government that partners with municipalities and provinces instead of attacking them, you got to vote Liberal," Ignatieff said.

Dion said he's hopeful that next week's leaders' debates will be as civil as the U.S. version proved to be on Friday night.

"We need civility, because we need for Canadians to focus on the issues, and it's more difficult to do so when you have low-blow attacks from one of us," he said.

"If to be strong is to be low, it's wrong. To be strong is to be strong to help the people, to give leadership, to create jobs, to create a strong economy now and for the future ... and it's what I will show to Canadians."

Dion was in southwestern Ontario to promote a $1-billion fund to support the Ontario manufacturing sector by leveraging private investment, attracting industry and fostering the growth of green jobs.

Harper was scheduled to attend a rally in Ajax, Ont., on Thursday afternoon before loosening up in the evening at his high school reunion in Toronto.

Layton was to wrap up a B.C. tour with a rally in Vancouver on Saturday, before heading Sunday to Toronto to unveil his party platform.

Green Leader Elizabeth May continued whistle-stopping through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia en route to the end of her cross-country train tour in Halifax.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe campaigned in Montreal and said he wants Ottawa to help Quebecers reduce their dependence on oil by introducing a $2,000 rebate to each household that converts to electricity.

He said the $20 billion Quebecers will spend this year on oil is a drain on the province's economy.