Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks to a crowd during a campaign event in Richmond, B.C., April 17, 2011.BEN NELMS
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper takes a day off the campaign trail Friday, and then it's wheels up on Saturday.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's tour is having a final down day in Ottawa before hitting the road for the final stretch of the campaign.
NDP Leader Jack Layton will spend Good Friday in his home town of Toronto. He has a number of media interviews scheduled early in the day.
In the afternoon, Mr. Layton will attend the Portuguese Good Friday procession with his wife, NDP MP Olivia Chow. Mr. Layton hopes to cover about a kilometre of the procession route despite his reliance on a cane following hip surgery in March.
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe heads to the northern reaches of Quebec, where his candidates may be feeling the heat from the surging NDP.
Mr. Duceppe will be in Val d'Or to campaign with two candidates, including Yvon Lévesque, the Bloc incumbent who was rebuked by Mr. Duceppe early in the campaign.
Mr. Lévesque suggested to a local newspaper that the NDP would regret nominating Roméo Saganash to oppose him because the New Democrat is aboriginal.
A poll published this week showed both men involved in a tight four-way race with the Liberal and Conservative candidates in their riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou.