NDP Leader Jack Layton is in Vancouver today to boost his party's support in British Columbia and to unveil his tax cut plans.

"Our plan is very focused, and it's very targeted and it's one we can afford," Layton said of his proposal, which he says focuses on childcare and personal tax cuts.

The proposal vows to:

• Exempt people with incomes under $15,000 from paying federal taxes at all
• Increase the child tax credit from $2,600 to $4,900 per child, and make it refundable for low-income families
• Remove the GST from family essentials, such as children's clothing and medicine, school supplies, books and magazines and women's hygiene products
• The NDP will guarantee full indexing of tax brackets and credits "so inflation doesn't create hidden tax increases"

"We just ask people to look at our tax proposals and see if they make sense for them," Layton said.

Layton, who is trying to boost support in the province of British Columbia, also took aim at Conservative Leader Stephen Harper today.

"Stephen Harper stands for a big, reckless tax cut. Just like Paul Martin, more privatization is on his agenda. People in B.C. know too well the way that works," he said.

"Families are the ones who suffer. They get barely noticeable tax savings at the end of the day but those get completely eaten up by user fees, sharply worsening health care, increased tuition costs and cuts to public services."

The race in B.C. has becoming increasingly tight. The Liberals and Conservatives are tied in the province with 32 per cent and 31 per cent decided voter support, according to the latest poll from Ipsos-Reid. The NDP has 23 per cent of decided voter support.

The Green Party is also making some inroads in B.C., where it has 13 per cent of the decided vote, up two points. It also has the possibility of taking two seats in the June 28 election.

Harper in Quebec

While Layton was attacking Harper in B.C., the Conservative leader was in Quebec for an unscheduled stop to address Liberal ads attacking the party.

The full-page ads say a Conservative government would kill the Official Languages Act and turn the clock back on abortion issues. They also say a vote for the Bloc Quebecois would allow the Conservatives to win the election.

"What the Liberal party hasn't clued into in this election is that nobody believes anything they say," Harper said. "So the more they attack us, the less people believe the attacks."

Harper is also trying to shore up more support in Quebec, where the only Tory MP elected in the 2000 election, Andre Bachand, has said he will be backing the Liberal candidate in his riding.

While Harper has tried to gain approval with moderate voters in the two weeks since the election was called, he's had to repeatedly switch into damage-control mode as his MPs expressed contentious opinions on topics ranging from bilingualism to abortion and the death penalty.

In the latest incident, Ottawa-area Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant said Saturday she thinks Canada's newly amended hate law -- which added "sexual orientation" to the list of groups protected from hate propaganda -- should be changed back. Gallant says the inclusion could theoretically protect pedophiles.

A party spokesman said the Conservatives were not planning to move to repeal the act, but the Gallant gaffe was just the latest example of Harper apparently having to put a lid on his MPs opinions.

Election strategy

Speaking on Canada AM Monday, NDP strategist Donne Flanagan said that while Canadians may want a change in government, they should think about what kind of change they'll be getting before they cast their votes.

"I think the kind of change that Stephen Harper represents ... is very bizarre change that Canadians are not that interested in," he said, pointing to comments from Conservatives MPs that he said highlight the party's true colours.

"It's a very different Conservative Party than the ones we've seen in the past. It really is very much the old Alliance party."

But while the NDP may be focusing their attacks on the Conservatives, Tory strategist Geoff Norquay says his party will continue to go after Martin, focusing on his record as finance minister and prime minister.

The Liberal Party, meanwhile, will be going after support among women and Quebecers, hoping -- like the NDP -- to knock the Conservatives down a rung or two by focusing on their social policies.

"In one week, (the Conservatives have) managed to reopen debates that are closed, debates that hurt, debates that put into question the issue of social peace," said Liza Frulla, Quebec's Liberal social development minister, in an interview with The Globe.

"I think that women have to understand that they could lose the right to choose (to have an abortion) in this election campaign," said Liberal campaign co-chair David Herle. "These are going to be very important issues for people because this is not the value system of Canada."

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, meanwhile, will be courting union support in Saguenay.