OTTAWA — The ruling Tories indulged in some mischief Thursday in an apparent bid to influence the outcome of the Liberal leadership race.

On the eve of the Liberals' super weekend, when some 4,300 delegates will be chosen to attend the party's Dec. 2 leadership convention, a confidential memo from Conservative national campaign chief Doug Finley was conveniently leaked to two newspapers, one French, one English.

Offering his assessment of the top four contenders in the Liberal contest, Finley confides that rookie Toronto MP and acclaimed scholar Michael Ignatieff would be the most formidable foe for the Conservatives.

Bob Rae, on the other hand, would have trouble overcoming his turbulent, recession-ravaged record as Ontario NDP premier during the early 1990s.

Finley also says that focus groups have dismissed former Ontario education minister Gerard Kennedy as "minor league,'' and sole Quebec contender Stephane Dion as "the most boring'' of the lot. Rae said in interview he found the timing of the leak "odd'' and was skeptical that it reflects a genuine Tory assessment of the contenders.

"I don't buy it,'' he said.

Privately, Rae strategists suggested Finley was attempting to use "reverse pyschology'' on Liberals, that Tories really most fear Rae and his ability to marginalize the NDP, whose strength in last winter's election helped ensure a Conservative victory.

Ignatieff operations director Sachin Aggarwal, however, said the Tories do seem to genuinely fear Ignatieff. He pointed out that Ignatieff has received a "disproportionate number of attacks'' from Tories throughout the contest, including a stream of ''talking points'' for MPs to use in slagging the presumed Liberal frontrunner.

A Tory MP was at it again Thursday, managing to get in a nationally televised dig at Ignatieff during the grilling of RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli about the Maher Arar affair.

Dave MacKenzie, Conservative MP for the Ontario riding of Oxford, cited a 2004 newspaper article in which then-Harvard professor Ignatieff suggested that the war on terrorism may require "coercion, secrecy, deception and even violations of rights.''

MacKenzie wondered whether similar sentiments permeated Canada's security services in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Perish the thought, responded Zaccardelli, positioning the police force as a more ardent defender of rights than the would-be leader of the party that brought in the Charter of Rights.

"Never, never can the charter be disregarded in any type of investigation,'' Zaccardelli declared.

Meanwhile, supporters of the sole Quebec leadership contender, Stephane Dion, were suspicious about Thursday's report from the country's environment commissioner, who blasted the Liberal climate change plan introduced while Dion was environment minister.

While they doubted the government could control the timing of the report, a Dion strategist noted that the contents were selectively leaked several weeks ago and that Tories have been "spinning (it) like hell'' ever since.

That has fuelled suspicions that the Tories are attempting to embarrass the candidate who could yet triumph at the Liberal convention in December.

The Conservative mischief appears designed to cover the bases, taking aim at the three contenders identified in recent polls as most likely to win the Liberal crown.

However, polls aren't necessarily a good indicator of the way the race will look following this weekend's delegate selections. It's a complex process, the outcome of which will depend on the organizational strength of the various camps and their ability to get their supporters out to vote.

"There's no chance the polls can pick up the dynamic of what's happening,'' said Kennedy. "It's very regional and riding-based.''

Insiders in various camps predict that Kennedy, who has an energetic, youthful organization, and Scott Brison, whose support is heavily concentrated in the Atlantic region, will do better than polls suggest.

Ignatieff's camp is predicting their candidate will emerge with the support of about 25 per cent of the delegates, although other camps predict it will be more like 30 per cent.

Polls suggest Rae should wind up virtually tied with Ignatieff. But other camps suspect he'll be further back and Rae himself said he'll be satisfied just to be "in the hunt'' when the weekend is over. He agreed that a candidate need not be in the top three to remain in the hunt.

Some 200,000 Liberal party members are entitled to vote but party officials concede less than half will likely turn out.

Starting Friday and concluding Sunday, members in each of the country's 308 ridings will be able to cast a two-part ballot, indicating their choice for leader and for the 14 delegates who will attend the Montreal convention.