VANCOUVER—Though she’s given it lots of thought, lower mainland resident Christine Shepherd isn’t 100 per cent sure who she will vote for on Monday. With just two days to go, she’s exactly the type of voter all four party leaders are hoping to sway this weekend with local appearances and appeals.

The Conservatives are out, Shepherd said, because she lives in Burnaby-North-Seymour, where that party’s candidate was ousted about two weeks ago. That leaves her weighing up the two parties she thinks have a shot at the riding: Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, and Jagmeet Singh’s NDP.

“I’ve looked up to see where my vote would make a difference,” she said. “I do like the Green party, but I don’t think that would do much for my vote in that area.”

Undecided voters in battleground ridings like Burnaby-North-Seymour will be key in deciding the outcome of Monday’s federal election. With the likelihood of a Liberal or Conservative minority government appearing to be high, the question is not only which party will get the most seats but which third, fourth, or fifth party could carry the balance of power if no party gets a majority.

That was the contest playing out in the lower mainland Saturday, with both the Green party’s Elizabeth May and the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh planning full days of events designed to convince undecided progressive voters that theirs was the party best suited to holding a minority government to account.

Green Leader Elizabeth May rallied alongside West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country candidate Dana Taylor Saturday morning and urged volunteers to send the message to voters that a Green vote is not a wasted vote.

“There’s nothing to fear — you really need to have a Green member of parliament working for you because in a minority parliament a smaller group can have an influence,” she said to reporters after the rally. “In a minority parliament the question will be: how many seats do we need to have to play a really critical role?”

She said the lower mainland, where the Liberal picked up many key seats in 2015, is “absolutely” a battleground area, where Greens hope to pick up votes from people upset with the Liberals for the decision to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

Some undecided voters remain unconvinced by that argument — or any of the pitches presented by the parties in Canada’s 43rd election.

Barb Matthews, who Saturday walked passed the May rally with her husband, Leigh, and her dog, said she’s been disappointed overall by negative tone of the election, and the leaders making appearances in her community aren’t going to sway her now.

“I don’t think there’s a civil process going on here,” she said. “And the issues that are really important are not being talked about.”

To Barb Matthews, those issues include affordable housing for young people, education and practical environmental solutions.

Leigh Matthews would like to see concrete plans to balance a reduction in oil extraction with job creation but says he’s not satisfied with any of the party’s plans. He’s therefore voting for the Conservatives because they promise to reduce the deficit.

Jagmeet Singh focused his Vancouver-area campaign stops on his promise to add 500,000 units of affordable housing to the market — targeting renters feeling the squeeze of sky-high rents.

In a packed rally in downtown Vancouver Saturday, he repeated his long-standing campaign talking point that voters who feel disenchanted with the Liberals and Conservatives have a third viable option in the NDP.

Meanwhile Shepherd said she’s leaning Liberal because it seems to her that, despite his “imperfections,” Justin Trudeau has put Canada on the map in a way that former prime ministers have not.

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Her sister Stephanie, also an undecided voter, agreed. “Nobody’s perfect,” she said.

With files from Alex Ballingall

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