Liberal vote only way to get rid of Harper: Ignatieff

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made an impassioned appeal to centrist voters Tuesday, saying the only way to oust Conservative Leader Stephen Harper from governmentis tovote Liberal.

Hisrepeated call forCanadians to "rise up" and unseat theConservatives comesas polls appeared to showthe Liberalsslipping in the final days of Canada's federal election campaign.

During a rally in Winnipegon Tuesday night, Ignatieffurged a crowd of supporters to go talk to friends and relatives who have supported other parties in the past, and said recent polls don't reflect what he's seeing on the ground.

He also asked NDP and "progressive" Conservative supportersdisgruntled withwhat he labelled as Harper's"politics of fear" to "come on in to the big red tent."

"Politics is a little like preaching," Ignatieff told the crowd. "We're not going to preach to the converted. You're here. Got to preach to theunconverted."

At the same time, he also castigated Harper forwhat he said was an attemptto scareCanadians intogiving him a majority government. Harper has warned throughout the campaign that the opposition parties will try to form a coalition to replace the Conservatives should his party be elected with only a minority, and such an arrangement would threaten Canada's economicy stability.

"You haven't earned it, and don't try to scare, intimidate and bully the Canadian people into doing that,"Ignatieff said of Harper. "They're bigger than that."

Earlier Tuesday, while appearing at Vancouver police headquarters to underscore the Liberals' support for a national long-gun registry, Ignatieff said he remained confident that with "a vast 60 per cent" of Canadians opposing Stephen Harper's Conservatives, enough will turn to the Liberals on election day Monday.

"They dont want a government of the left," he said."They dont want a government of the right."

Ignatieff is fighting against widely varying poll results, some of which show the Liberals falling behind Jack Layton's New Democratic Party, both in Quebec and across Canada. There is speculation that could split the non-Tory vote in some ridings, making a majorityvictory possible for the Conservatives.

"The question is who can actually get rid of the Stephen Harper regime,"Ignatieff said. "And we're saying, if you vote for Mr. Layton, you're going to get a Harper minority government. If you vote for Mr. Duceppe, you're going to get a Harper minority government.

"The only party that can actually replace the Harper government with a compassionate, progressive, responsible alternative is the Liberal Party of Canada. That's what I'm seeing in the crowds."

Liberal support 'under the radar'

The Liberal leader saidthe party has been "working under the radar" and has the team to get out the vote on Monday.

"That's what we will continue to say until election day, and I think as we get there, that's how Canadians are going to decide. They are going to vote Liberal."

On the gun registry, Ignatieff said his is the only party that has supported law enforcement officials in keeping the registry alive.

The Liberals have learned from the shootings at Dawson College in Montreal in on Sept. 16, 2006, and at cole Polytechnique in the same city on Dec. 5, 1989, he added.

"You have to have a gun control system and we have fought and defended it," Ignatieff said. "Mr. Harper is clearly in politics to abolish it, and he's going to do so with the help of Jack Layton.