With election day less than 48 hours away, Andrew Scheer suddenly found himself in the hot seat Saturday as reports linked the Conservative party to a co-ordinated effort to smear former caucus colleague Maxime Bernier and his nascent populist People鈥檚 Party of Canada.

The Globe and Mail reported that strategist Warren Kinsella and his firm Daisy Group were hired to 鈥渟eek and destroy鈥� Bernier鈥檚 party and portray its supporters as racist. A source with direct knowledge of the project said the client was the Conservatives, the Globe reported.

The Conservative leader, whom polls suggest is locked in a neck-and-neck duel with Liberal rival Justin Trudeau, refused to confirm, deny or even acknowledge the report during a news conference in Toronto that featured few questions about anything else.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 offer comments on contracts that may or may not exist on vendors we may or may not have a relationship with,鈥� he said, repeatedly.

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Bernier formed the People鈥檚 Party of Canada 鈥� a populist, libertarian movement steeped in nationalist sentiment and aimed at draining support from the right-wing flank of the Tories 鈥� after he narrowly lost the Conservative leadership race to Scheer.

鈥淭his is the kind of dirty politics that fuels Canadians鈥� cynicism about politics,鈥� Bernier told a news conference of his own, adding that he had filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Canada Elections, the office that enforces Canada鈥檚 election laws.

鈥淭his secret campaign is an attack on the integrity of our democratic process. We had suspected for a long time that many of the supposed scandals of the last month had been fabricated by opponents.鈥�

He even suggested that Kinsella鈥檚 so-called 鈥渟eek-and-destroy鈥� campaign might have had a hand in the satirical Rhinoceros party鈥檚 decision to field a candidate also named Maxime Bernier in the leader鈥檚 Quebec riding of Beauce in hopes of confusing voters.

Kinsella didn鈥檛 confirm or deny the project to the Globe, but said generally his firm has worked on anti-racism campaigns. Later in the day, after his social media accounts vanished from the internet, he posted a statement on his website defending his work, which he said ended 鈥渕any months ago.鈥�

鈥淚t was always going to be disclosed, by law. It was in no way inappropriate or wrong,鈥� Kinsella wrote. 鈥淥pposing organized bigotry is always appropriate and right. We were and are fiercely proud of the work we did.鈥�

In the statement, Kinsella implied that details about the campaign were leaked by a former employee 鈥� a 鈥渉ater鈥� 鈥� who 鈥渕ade anti-Semitic, intolerant remarks and stole from our company鈥� before going on to assist Bernier鈥檚 party, which he insisted is undeserving of sympathy.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 help racists,鈥� he wrote.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the allegations are troubling and called on Scheer to address them directly.

鈥淐anadians should expect transparency from leaders,鈥� Singh said during a campaign stop in B.C., where the New Democrat frontman is seeking to capitalize on momentum few observers would have anticipated at the start of the campaign.

鈥淭hey should be able to answer those type of questions. If there鈥檚 evidence to suggest he was involved in the hiring of someone for a certain task he should be able to answer those questions.鈥�

Justin Trudeau, for his part, used the report to buttress his now-familiar charge that the Conservatives are using dirty tricks and misinformation to propel their election effort.

鈥淚 think we鈥檝e seen throughout this campaign that the Conservatives have had to use the politics of fear and division and indeed just make stuff up in order to try and get their message across,鈥� the Liberal leader said.

Contrary to the facts, Scheer has been insisting that Trudeau is 鈥渙penly talking鈥� about a coalition with the NDP after Monday鈥檚 vote, one that would raise the GST, personal income taxes and cancel social transfer payments to the provinces in order to finance their big-ticket promises.

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Trudeau has urged the need for a 鈥減rogressive government,鈥� but repeatedly refused to answer a variety of questions Saturday about minority scenarios, sticking instead to a message that Canadians have an important choice to make on Monday and stressing issues of affordability, gun control and fighting climate change.

Trudeau was in the midst of a marathon day of campaigning 鈥� he started early near Niagara Falls, Ont., with plans to end with a late-night rally in Calgary after a stop in Winnipeg along the way.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa Centre, the Liberals brought in heavy hitter Jean Chretien, with the former prime minister helping to rally the troops at an event for Catherine McKenna.

Singh was in Vancouver, where a real-life example of his momentum in the polls presented itself, as a line of people wrapped around a downtown city block to get into a rally with at least 400 people were already in attendance.

Earlier in the day, Singh touted his plan to build 500,000 affordable housing units and fight speculation and money laundering that drive up housing prices.

The Green party鈥檚 Elizabeth May was spending her day in and around Vancouver, boosting local candidates with sign-waves and door-to-door canvasses, but she finishes with a big regional rally at Canada Place featuring environmentalist David Suzuki.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

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