There is a chance, just a chance, that the federal election campaign will shift its focus to policy issues today.

It was hard to find any talk of issues over the weekend as all the talk, all the questions from the media, and all the positioning by the parties focused on the possibility of a coalition if the Conservatives fail to win a majority.

Stephen Harper put coalition front and centre right from the get-go after his visit to the governor general.

Yesterday, before flying west he followed it up with another attack on the prospect of a Liberal/NDP/Bloc Quebecois coalition. The other parties followed with attacks on Harper's past flirtations with the coalition option. The leaders will roll out policy and we'll have to wait and see if the media scrums move from coalition questions to policy issues.

This morning Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is in the GTA and he laid out the broad policy strokes for the Liberal campaign. Ignatieff repeated his line on Conservative spending on "jets, prisons and corporate tax cuts" versus Liberal commitments to Canadians. Ignatieff turned the microphone over to Liberal GTA MP Mark Holland to deliver part of the Liberal case. Again I expect we will see this time and again as part of the "Liberal team strategy." The Liberals are promising that their platform will be "fully costed."

Ignatieff is spending the day in the GTA. He will go to Trinity-Spadina, one of the two ridings in the 416 the Liberals do not hold. The riding is held by Olivia Chow who is being challenged by Christine Innes.

Innes will be with Ignatieff and other prominent Liberals in Chinatown at noon walking along Spadina to speak with local business owners. Then, this evening, the Liberals have a rally in Mississauga. The Liberal hold on Mississauga has been under attack in the last couple of elections. Many of the large Liberal majorities in those ridings have slipped and there could be some very close races this time round. Ignatieff ends a busy day with a long flight to Vancouver.

Harper, Layton and May in Western Canada

Stephen Harper starts his day in Vancouver. There are reports that the Conservatives will turn to policy announcements. Look for something on taxes for families. The Conservatives plan is to have Harper focus on British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Later today Harper will make a stop over in Alberta. The Conservative take on Albertans is that they want him campaigning for a Conservative majority and that means being anywhere but Alberta.

Jack Layton is spending the day in Saskatchewan before flying back to Ontario. The NDP are trying to put together a big rally in Toronto for Wednesday afternoon. The NDP goal will be to hold the two seats in the GTA and add a couple more.

It is clear that all three parties will be looking for votes in and around the GTA. In recent past elections the talk has been about the battle for the vote in the "416 and 905 area codes." This year that will probably extend to what is now being called the "401 vote." It refers to the 401 corridor and really stretches from Windsor to Cornwall north and south of the 401. Expect buses to be rolled out by all the parties for much of that highway campaign.

And where is Elizabeth May? The leader of the Green Party is going to spend a lot of her time campaigning in Saanich-Gulf Islands against Conservative cabinet minister Gary Lunn. The Green Party says she will be in the GTA a couple of times during the campaign but clearly what the Green Party needs is one seat, any seat, in the House of Commons. The calculation is that keeping May focused on her race is the best chance it has for that elusive seat.