OTTAWA - Canadians head to the polls today to vote after what has been by many accounts a topsy-turvy federal election campaign.
It started out 36 days ago with the Conservatives defeated on a confidence motion in the House of Commons after being found in contempt of Parliament.
At the time, polls suggested Canadians might saddle themselves with a near status quo outcome -- yet another Tory minority and a Liberal official Opposition.
But pollsters now say all bets are off, with the New Democrats under leader Jack Layton surging in popular support, and threatening to turn the political landscape on its head and deny Stephen Harper that elusive majority government.
The Conservative leader warns that a vote for Liberal rival Michael Ignatieff would be a waste of paper, saying all Ignatieff can now hope for is to be a back-seat passenger in an NDP government.
The latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll appeared Sunday to buttress that conclusion.
The poll, conducted Thursday through Sunday, had the Conservatives at 36 per cent support, with the NDP six points back at 30 per cent.
The Liberals were languishing at 19 per cent, with the Bloc Quebecois tied with the Greens at six per cent each.
Ignatieff accused Harper of having no vision for Canada, but instead envisioning driving a stake through the heart of the Liberal party.
In his last interview of the election campaign, NDP Leader Jack Layton said he hoped to work together with some or all of the other parties, should he be in a leadership position.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe appeared resigned to his fate Sunday as he campaigned in his own riding.
Duceppe asked his supporters in the Montreal riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie to let him keep the seat in the House of Commons he's held since 1990.
