NDP Leader Jack Layton promised Canadians his party will stop the "endless rip-offs" at the gas pumps if he is elected prime minister.
At a campaign stop in Toronto on Saturday afternoon, he repeated his plan to appoint an oversight commissioner who would review gas prices.
"If oil companies collude, under our plan they'll be investigated. If we catch them at it they'll be prosecuted. And the rip-offs will be stopped," Layton said.
Throughout the speech, NDP leader repeated the mantra of "change," a not-so-subtle reference to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in the U.S.
He told a cheering crowd that his party will bring the type of "change that restores Canada's role as a force for good in the world."
He also said Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has ignored the plight of ordinary Canadians and focused on helping his corporate friends.
"I hear anger, I hear frustration (and) a lot of worry," he said.
"I (also) hear a certain type of determination ... the sense that real change is possible."
As he has done for much of the campaign, Layton all but ignored any mention of Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. Instead, he focused his attacks almost entirely on Harper.
"Unlike Stephen Harper I refuse to standby as jobs get packed up and shipped out of the country," he said.
He said Harper has given corporations "an unlimited licence to pollute the air that your kids breathe."
The one time that Layton mentioned Dion, he attacked the Liberal leader's "Green Shift" carbon emissions plan. Layton said the proposal to have a revenue-neutral carbon tax won't work, and that if he is elected prime minister he'll take on big oil and "watch your back."
