Canadian socialists surge pre-election

OTTAWA, April 23 (UPI) -- Days before Canada's federal election, a surge in poll popularity for the socialist party has triggered attack ads by the two most prominent parties.

Since campaigning began at the end of March, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party has led in the polls, followed by the Liberals and then the socialist New Democratic Party, led by Jack Layton.

In recent days, the NDP has surged into second place ahead of Michael Ignatieff's Liberals, prompting Liberals and Conservatives to target the NDP in TV and radio ads, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The spike in poll support also has happened in Quebec, where the separatist Bloc Quebecois under Gilles Duceppe fell to second place to the NDP, Postmedia News said Saturday.

Layton grew up in Montreal and among the other leaders is equally fluent in French as Duceppe.

The NDP has never been in federal power, although it has governed in several provinces.

The May 2 election is the country's fourth in seven years. It was brought about at the end of March when the three opposition parties voted down Harper's minority Conservatives, who have been in power for five years.