In an unusually partisan article, the Toronto newspaper cited numerous polls showing Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government gaining popularity.

The newspaper said Harper's message is "a majority is essential if the Conservatives are going to keep the country on the right track."

The country's 33 million people are regionally diverse politically, with Conservative support polling high in the western province of British Columbia, while the party grapples with the separatist Bloc Quebecois in Quebec,.

Peter Donolo, a partner at the Strategic Counsel polling firm, told the newspaper regional issues would shape the outcome.

"The issue is not so much whether the Conservatives are going to win or not but whether they're going to win a majority. That's a very open question," he said.