OTTAWA - The leaders of Canada's two main opposition parties shifted their focus from fighting Prime Minister Stephen Harper to fighting each other Saturday after a new post-debate poll placed them in a statistical dead heat.
With the new Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey showing the New Democrats a mere two points behind the Liberals, Jack Layton and Stephane Dion both claimed the mantle as the leader with the best chance of defeating the Conservatives.
But the four-day rolling poll which concluded Friday suggested that Layton has been the biggest beneficiary of a post-debate bounce and the one Canadians seeking change are turning to at a time of growing economic anxiety.
Campaigning in Halifax, Layton appealed to Liberals to abandon the unpopular Dion and his Green Shift policies that the NDP leader says make the party unelectable.
"I'm going to tell them ... let's get together and defeat Stephen Harper by supporting New Democrats in this election," Layton told a crowd of 500 at St. Mary's University.
"Dion can't win because of his carbon tax proposal, and he shouldn't win because he has supported Harper too many times already, but we can win."
The Liberal leader had a similar message at stops in Dieppe, N.B. and Miscouche, P.E.I., saying NDP supporters are helping elect Harper by splitting the anti-Tory vote.
Dion also said Layton's proposed business tax increases would be a job killer.
"If you are worried about your job then think twice about voting for Jack Layton because right now the only job a vote for the NDP will save is Stephen Harper's job," Dion said.
NDP workers have started handing out new signs to supporters, which bear the slogan "United with Layton."
The Liberal-New Democrat appeal for each other's vacillating supporters comes after the new Harris-Decima four-day rolling poll -- the first that contains substantial sampling of post-debates respondents -- found the two parties nearly tied, with the Liberals clinging precariously to a 22 to 20 per cent lead.
The survey also suggests that Harper's dream of winning a majority government may be slipping away after his party dropped two points to 35 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Greens also received a minor debate bounce to 13 per cent support.
Harper's failure to present new initiatives to ease mounting concerns about the economy may have hurt him in Thursday night's English-language debate, particularly in Ontario, said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson.
"The anxiety about the economy put a little bit in question how strong and decisive the prime minister looked and whether he looked like the kind of guy that was going to read the economic signals (and) cope with changing circumstances," he said.
Anderson added that Layton's strong and passionate performance in the debate has helped elevate him in the minds of Canadians as a possible alternative to Harper.
With time running out to make major changes in the dynamics of the campaign, all party leaders -- except the Bloc Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe -- hit the hustings Saturday in Atlantic Canada.
And as they have for days, they presented sharply contrasting views about the perils facing the Canadian economy and Ottawa's ability to intervene.
"We are facing enormous economic challenges," Dion told a rally in Dieppe.
"Mr. Harper doesn't know that, but we know ... that 80 per cent of our trade is done with the United States.
"They are our clients so if we don't prepare ourselves, it's foolish."
Dion has vowed to meet with business leaders, economists and premiers within 30 days of a new Liberal government to assess the Canadian economy and map out a strategy to deal with the downturn, hammering home the point repeatedly that the Conservatives "have no plan."
Layton said Harper was "essentially in denial" and didn't understand or didn't seem to care about Canadians losing their jobs.
Harper countered that Canada does not face the same crisis as the U.S., charging the Liberals and NDP would do more harm to the economy than good.
"I'm not saying we're immune from this, but we're not in deficit, we're not in recession and we're not losing jobs, and we're not panicking," he said after a speech in Yarmouth, N.S.
The Liberals' 30-day economic rescue plan -- a surprise announcement made by Dion during Wednesday's French-language debate -- is little more than a sign of panic, Harper said.
"There's a lot of uncertainty out there, we don't need the government to (make) more," he said.
"That is just panic and risk, that is not a plan."
Harper, whose platform will be unveiled Tuesday, promised $300 million in new funding Saturday for the West, Quebec and Atlantic Canada to help those regions cope with economic hardship.
He said the money will restore a regional development funding cut by the previous Liberal government in 2004 and 2005.
Green Leader Elizabeth May campaigned in her Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova, where she hopes to unseat Conservative cabinet heavyweight Peter MacKay.
The rolling poll represents 1,247 interviews conducted Tuesday through Friday and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20 -- though the margin is much higher for regional samples.
