A former Liberal defence minister eyeing a potential election run in an Ottawa-area riding admits Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has been battered by negative Tory ads, but defended his leadership.

David Pratt told CTV's Question Period on Sunday that once Canadians learn more about Dion, they'll see that he is a "strong leader" and an "idea person." He also praised Dion's work on the Clarity Act.

"I think part of the problem in terms of Canadians perception of Stephane Dion has been these attack ads by the Conservative government. Perhaps, they have had somewhat of an impact," Pratt said.

"The polls seem to indicate a neck-and-neck race and I think the campaign is going to make a difference ... I don't think for a second that people have given up on Stephane Dion."

Since early 2007, Stephen Harper's Conservatives have run a series of ads attacking Dion as a weak and indecisive leader.

They've also seized on Dion's decision not to trigger an election over the past year, despite Liberal opposition to a number of key Tory bills. Just this past week, Harper raised the spectre of a fall vote.

"I do think it's fair to say that in the past few months, and particularly over the summer, we have seen increasing signs that this Parliament is really not working very well anymore. It's becoming increasingly dysfunctional," Harper said Thursday.

Dion said this weekend his party is ready to go to the polls, but added he'll help trigger an election when the timing is right. All three parties must vote non-confidence to defeat the government.

Pratt, who is seeking the Liberal nomination in the riding of Ottawa West-Nepean, said he's ready to take on the Tories, who he said have left Canada "rudderless" since taking office.

First elected to Parliament in 1997, Pratt was considered a rising star in former prime minister Paul Martin's government. But in 2004, the former defence minister lost his seat in Nepean-Carleton to rookie Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre.

Pratt recently quit his position as a special adviser to the Canadian Red Cross. If he wins the Liberal nomination this time, he'll run against Environment Minister John Baird, a proposition Pratt welcomed.

"I don't think (voters) appreciate (Baird's) abrasive style, his caustic approach to politics. I think they see him as almost a hyper-partisan, someone who puts partisanship ahead of good government," Pratt said.

Baird took the riding by more than 5,000 votes in 2006.

He said Baird and other Tories were slow to recognize the need to tackle global climate change, noting that he looks forward to putting Dion's carbon tax plan up against the Conservative approach.

The Tory plan aims to regulate greenhouse emissions through intensity-based targets, an approach Pratt called a "sham." Dion's "Green Shift" plan would tax carbon emissions, but the Liberals have said the higher taxes would be offset by cuts to income and corporate taxes.

Crime focus

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told Question Period that his party will continue to focus on crime issues in the fall and during the next election campaign.

While some statistics indicate Canada's overall crime rate has been declining, property crimes, drug offences, and identity theft are on the increase, Day said.

He said there has been a rise in "the type of crimes that really worry people."

"There's a sense that certainly elements of youth crime aren't being dealt with properly, that there aren't the proper sanctions," he said.

Day accused the former Liberal government of pandering to the rights of criminals rather than the rights of victims and "law abiding citizens."

He said the Tories are hoping to introduce changes in the penal system that would require inmates to work.

"We're not looking at this in a punitive way. If people are going to be in jail for a number of years, let's get them into a training program, an apprentice program," he said.

Last week, the Conservative government announced a pilot program to electronically monitor federal offenders released into the community, with a focus on repeat and violent offenders.

Up to 30 offenders in Ontario will have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet equipped with a GPS receiver. The receiver will report the offender's position to a monitoring network.

The fall session of Parliament will begin on Sept. 15.