Each campaign in the federal election is focusing on their must win ridings. That means that two leaders, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton are spending most of the day in the GTA. Harper had a morning event at a manufacturing plant in Brampton, did media interviews, more on that later, and flew on to Montreal for a rally. He'll over night in Halifax.

Jack Layton is spending a second day in the GTA. In Oshawa, a traditional NDP riding now held by the Conservatives, Layton repeated the NDP campaign themes before going to the west side of the GTA. This afternoon the NDP are trying to get a good turn out for a rally in Toronto. Layton overnights in Toronto before heading to Montreal in the morning.

The Liberal's Michael Ignatieff began his day in Vancouver looking to keep the seats he has there and maybe find a couple of gains. Some of the races in British Columbia were very close in 2008. For example in Vancouver-South a recount was needed before Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh was declared the winner by a mere 20 votes. Last night Ignatieff got off the campaign plane and made a bee line for Vancouver-South. Ignatieff has two events today. The first this morning in Vancouver and then he'll fly right over Alberta and Saskatchewan for an event in Winnipeg. The Liberals have nothing to fight for in Alberta and hold one seat in Saskatchewan.

Maximizing exposure

The Harper campaign is covering all the bases and looking for TV exposure wherever it can get it. Yesterday in Winnipeg Harper took a few minutes to play the piano and sing with Maria Aragon, the girl who was on stage in Toronto with Lady Gaga just a few days ago. Today the campaign set aside a few minutes to watch the big World Cup cricket match. Yes, there were cameras there to record it all. On each stop local media get special attention. Today that left the national media in a cafeteria at the Brampton factory talking to each other and waiting for the set piece speech.

The Harper photo ops are all very controlled but media slamdunks. Who didn't use a picture or video clip of Harper with Maria Aragon? And that cricket photo op? The Conservatives sent out a still photo and some video that the party shot and are now offering to the media. So far there are no walkabouts in Toronto's Chinatown along Spadina like Ignatieff did this week or public rallies like Layton's this afternoon.

Security is obviously one reason that Harper is not walking along a busy street shaking hands but more to the point the NDP campaign blew through Winnipeg and didn't think to visit with Ms Aragon. And although the NDP and Liberals know the South Asia vote is an important, even a deciding factor in some ridings, only the Conservatives made sure their leader was in front of a TV watching the match. So far the Conservative campaign is finding these moments and making the most of them.

What Canadians want

Little things build momentum in a campaign. Today Ignatieff has two events and Layton three. Those campaigns are following scripts that, so far, are not tapping into what engages Canadians. Today's CP24/CTV/Globe and Mail poll has the Conservatives with a ten point lead. The Liberal and NDP campaigns will have to get sharper and more focused and there's not a lot of time.

And here's a GTA surprise. Julian Fantino won the riding for the Conservatives late last year. Today the man he beat in that by-election, Liberal Tony Genco, announced he's throwing his support to Fantino. Last Sunday the Liberals nominated Mario Ferri to run against Fantino.