Prime Minister Paul Martin appeared to be kicking something off during a Grey Cup weekend visit to B.C. -- that something being an election campaign.

"This election campaign will not only talk about where we have come, it's about where we are going as a nation," he told a crowd of party faithful in Vancouver on Saturday.

Martin's Liberal minority government faces a non-confidence vote on Monday that appears to have the support of all three opposition parties, meaning an election will likely be triggered on Tuesday.

While Liberals called the Saturday event an "accountability session," it had the aura of an election pep rally.

Martin also dealt more with the accountability of two of his main rivals.

"I believe that (NDP Leader) Jack Layton is going to be called to account for forcing an election before the single most important conference on climate change ...," he said.

"I believe that (Conservative Leader) Stephen Harper is going to be criticized for the fact he refused to support the government of Canada when we stood up for softwood against George Bush," he said.

"This campaign is underway," said former environment minister David Anderson, who is retiring from elected politics.

Martin said his government and his party are not afraid to confront problems, in what was seen as a reference to the inquiry into the now-defunct sponsorship program.

He said the Liberals will continue to face the Canadian people, come clean when there is a problem, and tackle such issues in a transparent way.

"We are very proud of what we've done in the past, but just watch what we'll do in the future," Martin said.

The prime minister later made an appearance before a Chinese-Canadian organization. His government recently agreed to pay $12.5 million into a fund as compensation for the head tax charged Chinese immigrants for immigration to this country.  The tax was first applied in 1885 but continued on into the 20th Century.

Conservatives in Quebec

A top Tory in Quebec said her party is counting on voter reaction to the federal sponsorship scandal to help them make gains in Quebec.

"There is no one who can say that this government still has the moral authority to govern," Josee Verner told The Canadian Press.

While the Tories trail in the polls, Verner said the party had to react to Justice John Gomery's report that slammed the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party.

Poll puts Liberals ahead

Meanwhile, Martin's Liberals are holding on to their lead in popular support over the opposition Conservatives as they head into an election campaign, according to a public opinion poll published on Saturday.

According to a poll conducted by EKOS Research Associates Inc. for the Toronto Star, the Liberals under Prime Minister Paul Martin have gained support to hold a lead of nearly 10 percentage points over Stephen Harper's Conservatives.

Liberal support stands at 38.7 per cent, while the Conservatives follow in second place with 29.4 per cent and 16.9 per cent for the New Democratic Party among decided voters.

Meanwhile, the Bloc Quebecois, which fields candidates only in Quebec, has 10.6 per cent while the Green Party stands at 3.9 per cent support.

The Liberals' popularity has risen 5.7 percentage points from 33 per cent in early November, while the Tories have increased 1.5 points from 27.9 per cent a few weeks ago, the Star reported.

Support for the NDP, which stood at 20.9 per cent in early November, has declined four percentage points.

The poll results are based on telephone interviews with 802 adults between Nov. 22 and Nov. 24. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The poll suggests the public backlash from Justice John Gomery's findings on Liberal involvement in the sponsorship scandal is waning, Ekos president Frank Graves told the Star.

"The Liberals are back where they were prior to Justice Gomery's report at the beginning of the month," he told the newspaper.

"Although the election campaign could substantially alter the balance between the parties, from their position now, the Liberals can begin to dream about recovering the majority government they lost in the 2004 election."

But CTV's Roger Smith warns that the Liberals are by no means in the clear.

"The tendency is for government (support) to fall during a campaign," Smith told CTV Newsnet. "I would say what all politicians are telling us ... it's going to be a close and dirty race."

With a report from CTV's Sarah Galashan