That caused some concern that they would be able to pass even more right-wing legislation, because they wouldn't need opposition support, Kirkey said.

HURT BY DEBATES

The party had picked up support in Ontario and Quebec, which have the largest number of seats in the House of Commons. Kirkey said that was due in part to Liberal leader Stéphane Dion's difficulty in resonating with the Canadian people.

Now, after two televised debates, the numbers for Harper and the Conservatives are dropping. Kirkey said Harper didn't do well in the debates, because he failed to offer many specifics on the party's platform.

He said Harper's lack of reaction to the economic crisis in the United States is also to blame.

"He's seen as a good manager of the economy, but he didn't detail what his plan is," Kirkey said.

As the Canadian economy started to list, the public is looking for someone who will say the government is going to work for them, he said.

"I think they were disappointed by the lack of specifics on what his plan is," Kirkey said.

Harper was also hurt in the province of Quebec by comments that indicated he didn't think culture was an important aspect in the election. Kirkey said that is a huge issue in that tradition-rich society.

Since those events, voters have started to drift from support of the Conservative Party. In Quebec, they're going to the Bloc Québécois (headed by Gilles Duceppe) and the New Democratic Party (NDP, headed by Jack Layton). In Ontario, the are going to the NDP and the Liberals, Kirkey said.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reported a Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll released Thursday showed the Conservatives with 32 percent of support, the Liberals with 27 percent, the NDP with 19 percent, the Green Party at 12 percent and the Bloc Québécois with 8 percent.

While no one expects the Conservatives to lose, Kirkey said they could wind up with a smaller minority than they had when the election was called. That would require increased cooperation from the other parties to pass their legislation.

ROLE IN AFGHANISTAN

If the economic mess hadn't happened, the Canadian presence in Afghanistan would have been a much bigger focus of the election, Kirkey said. At first, Canada had mainly a peacekeeping force led first by the United Nations and later by NATO.

There was a big shift to more of a combat role in 2006. There are presently about 2,500 Canadian troops and support personnel in the southern province of Kandahar.