OTTAWA - The federal election campaign is turning topsy-turvy.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, long accused of plotting a "reckless coalition" to bring down the Conservatives, is accusing his Tory rivals of sidling up to the NDP.
New Democrat Leader Jack Layton is getting pointed questions about a campaign platform that no one ever expected would see the light of day.
And Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the front-runner and traditional focal point of the campaign, is doing everything in his power not to make news.
It's all symptomatic of the most surprising change of all: an apparent surge in support for the NDP, particularly in Quebec, that's transforming traditional tactics in the final days of the campaign.
Monday began with the spectacle of separatist champion Jacques Parizeau taking to the podium in Saint-Lambert, Que., to rally supporters of the flagging Bloc Quebecois.
"I'm surprised by the number of subjects that we can finally agree on in Quebec," said Parizeau, who walked into the building alongside Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe.
"It takes someone to build on these things and defend Quebec's position in Ottawa -- and that's the central role of the Bloc."
The 80-year-old Parizeau -- whose presence was seen by some as a sign of desperation on the part of the Bloc -- warned Quebecers to avoid being tempted by the promises of smiling strangers, who are only "trying to throw dust in our eyes."
With polls suggesting the NDP is challenging the Bloc in Quebec and the Liberals elsewhere, those strangers find themselves in a strange and unfamiliar place: the centre of attention.
With all eyes on Layton for once, the NDP leader found himself confronting an old fear: a strong third-place party providing succour to Harper and his front-running Conservatives.
Political observers have long held that a strong NDP can drain support from the Liberals and the Bloc, helping the Conservatives in close-fought ridings.
Layton wasn't buying it.
"This is what Canadians have been told for so many years, that they don't have any choice, they can only choose one of two parties," he said.
"Canadians are reacting to that, and they're saying, 'Wait a second, we do have a choice.' ... I think Canadians are coming to the conclusion that maybe it's time for something new."
The NDP platform, usually dismissed as ballast in past campaigns, was coming under closer scrutiny Monday -- particularly the promise of a cap-and-trade emissions system the party claims would generate $3.6 billion in the first year.
The Liberals insisted it would be impossible to implement cap-and-trade -- a scheme that imposes limits on greenhouse gas emissions with built-in flexibility to minimize the impact on industry -- as rapidly and as profitably as the NDP claims.
"If the revenue doesn't come in quite as fast as projected, then we'll have to analyze how we pace the various introduction of programs," Layton said.
He likened it to what a Canadian family has to do with its household finances when circumstances change -- calibrate and adjust accordingly, "which is exactly what I think Canadians would want a responsible government to do."
But Layton refused to say what programs or spending initiatives would have to be jettisoned.
"This is the first time anyone can remember in an election campaign in which Mr. Layton signs his platform, (then) two weeks later has to admit there's a $3.6-billion hole in it," Ignatieff said.
The Liberal leader, too, was outside of his comfort zone Monday, forgoing the hopeful rhetoric of his high-road campaign with pointed attacks and a new ad mocking "career politicians" Layton and Harper as "two sides of the same coin."
The ad accuses the Conservative and NDP leaders of conspiring in 2005 to block Liberal plans for a national child-care program, among other things. It recalls Harper's fondness for accusing Ignatieff of plotting to team up with the NDP and the Bloc and conspire against the Conservatives.
"In 2005, their unprincipled deal stopped the Liberal plan for national child care, stronger gun control and better environmental protections," a woman's voice intones.
"Today, Harper will give your tax dollars to big banks and rich oil companies. And Layton? He'd jack up your taxes to pay for 70 billion in new spending."
Campaigning in Thunder Bay, Ont., Ignatieff sounded like a man fighting a war on two fronts as he portrayed his party as the only viable option for a government with the interests of Canadian families at heart.
"Since Laurier, we have been at the centre of the Canadian political system," Ignatieff said as he portrayed the Liberals as the "party of government."
"We're not a left-wing party and we're not a right-wing party, and that's precisely why Canadians have supported us."
Ignatieff was headed west for events in Vancouver later in the day.
If Ignatieff and Duceppe stand to lose the most from a Layton surge, the man who stands to gain is Harper, who was doing his level best Monday to stay out of the fray.
Harper's current message is as benign as it's ever been: an election win would allow him pick up where he left off.
"Should Canadians honour us with re-election next Monday, the business of government will continue Tuesday," Harper said in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., before a late-day event in Windsor.
"We will be able to hit the ground running."
A majority government would be nice, he added.
"I hope that after the election we will have a strong, stable majority -- we will not continue to have all of this parliamentary manoeuvring (and) fall into another election -- and we'll focus on the economy."
Harper says his government would proceed "very cautiously" on changes to foreign investment rules, and consult widely when appointing new justices to the Supreme Court of Canada.
