Williams keeps ABC battle on the home front

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams has turned down another request to take his "anything but Conservative" campaign beyond his provincial boundaries.

Williams was invited this week to participate in a New Democratic Party event in Saskatchewan.

An official in the premier's office, though, said Williams turned down the request because of a scheduling conflict.

Last week, Williams rejected an offer to campaign with Green Leader Elizabeth May because of her party's stand on the seal hunt.

Williams said last month he has been inundated with requests to campaign and speak across the country. He said he was not ruling out making public appearances elsewhere in the country leading up to the Oct. 14 election.

Williams, a Progressive Conservative, is encouraging voters in Newfoundland and Labrador to boycott federal Conservative candidates, on grounds that Conservative Leader Stephen Harper broke written pledges to exclude non-renewable energy sources from the equalization formula.

Williams has also accused Harper of harbouring a hidden far-right agenda.

An official in Williams's office said the premier's schedule has so far been too hectic to travel, and that he has "no travel plans yet."