NEWMARKET, Ont. -- Stephen Harper dropped the measured cadences of his regular campaign speech Sunday to give a forceful denunciation of Liberal governments as he geared up for a full day of hammering home that message across the country.
Harper appeared almost angry as he set up what he believes is the contrast between the two styles of government before Canada on Monday.
"We want this country to keep moving forward. We do not want to go back to the days where the government ran for a handful of Liberal special interest groups and the bureaucracy," the Conservative leader said, his eyes cutting away from the screen with his speech and focusing on the audience.
"And the Liberal campaign, when you cut away all the fancy rhetoric, that's all it is really about."
Harper has spent the last week relying on his own fancy display, trotting out a senior, family or business owner each day to demonstrate that, in his words, the Liberal policies on taxes and spending aren't just numbers in a pamphlet but dollars on the table.
There was Nicole and Rob, Ed and Cathy, Tony and Paul and even Sanjib, the fellow who uttered the now nearly legendary line of "Nice hair though," at the end of the Conservatives' anti-Trudeau ads that kick-started this 78-day election campaign.
The Conservatives have long viewed themselves as the party of the Everyman and Everywoman -- even some of the more controversial ones like the Ford brothers of Toronto who headlined Harper's last major rally on Saturday night.
Their enduring popularity among residents of the city, despite former mayor Rob Ford's admitted drug use while in office, helped generate one of the biggest crowds for Harper this week amid controversy about why his campaign would link itself so publicly to someone who has used illegal narcotics.
A picture of the Ford family, along with Harper, was plastered on the front page of the Toronto Star on Sunday.
Some Conservatives say the hundreds of thousands of people who back the Fords are important voters who ought not be slighted. Others say to court them so actively creates unnecessary noise at a time when the Tories need to get their own political message through.
But what will really matter Monday is who shows up to vote, suggested Peter Van Loan, the incumbent Conservative MP and candidate for the riding of York-Simcoe, north of Toronto.
"Elections in some ridings will be decided by not who votes, but who decides not to vote," he said.
"And that's why it's important that every Conservative voter gets to the polls. If you think you want the Conservatives to win, if you don't want all those Liberal taxes, well guess what? Staying at home is a vote for those Liberal tax hikes."
Later Sunday morning, Harper paid a visit to another beloved Toronto-area figure, car dealer Nav Bhatia, also known for his ardent devotion to the Toronto Raptors.
Bhatia said in the last eight years he has seen his business grow from 40 employees to 156 employees, and many of them have gone from renting apartments to owning their own homes.
"If there is a heaven on this earth, this is my Canada and I want to keep it like that and I want to keep it safe and whatever the prime minister's policies are to keep it safe, I appreciate that," he said.
He said the other issues in this campaign, such as the niqab or revocation of citizenship, aren't things he has paid attention to.
"I feel very secure and safe in this country with the policies that have been there," he said.
Harper later touched down at the Regina International Airport for a brief rally on the tarmac before heading onto a final event in Abbotsford, B.C.
