Finance Minister Ralph Goodale is due to present his regular fiscal and economic statement on Monday. But the Conservatives just may try to block him from releasing that document, if they can.

Ottawa traditionally updates Canadians each fall on the state of the country's finances and the economic outlook. But Tory finance critic Monte Solberg says this year's statement appears to be nothing more than sheer electioneering.

So he's urging fellow opposition MPs to stop Goodale from using the Commons finance committee as a venue for delivering the update.

"The House of Commons is not an appendage of the Liberal Party. If you want to release a platform, you can go do that somewhere else," Solberg said from Ottawa Thursday.

Solberg notes that the Liberals' document has grown to 200 pages. And now reporters are being called to preview the statement in a media lockup in Ottawa ahead of its release – just as they do for a federal budget.

That makes the document seem more like a mini-budget, one that could be filled with pre-election promises that the Tories say the Liberals couldn't possibly hope to fulfill before Canadians next go to the polls.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says it's clear that the minority Liberals are desperately trying to win over voters with expensive promises.

"This is just the government trying to change its financial policies again because they're not popular with Canadians," Harper said following a speech in Winnipeg Thursday.

It's widely expected that Goodale's statement on Monday will pledge business and middle-class income tax cuts, notes CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife on Canada AM Friday

"The finance minister wants to deliver a pre-Christmas present to all Canadians, big tax cuts coming in the form of lower and middle-income tax cuts, but the opposition say he's electioneering, he's politicking," Fife said.

"So they're going to do a little politicking on their own and not let him speak to the Commons committee."

The Liberals say if Goodale is blocked from delivering his statement to the commons committee, he could still deliver it directly to the House of Commons or through a press conference.

Prime Minister Paul Martin accused the Conservatives of flouting the rules of Parliament by trying to keep the government from doing its work.

"For heaven sakes, let's not stop the government of Canada acting on behalf of Canadians,'' Martin said.