The outcome of today's general election in Canada is up in the air as political leaders and voters struggle to come to grips with the global financial storm.

Opinion polls generally point to a second minority government for the Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper. But a 20 per cent plunge in the Toronto stock exchange over the past two weeks and warnings of an imminent economic slowdown, perhaps a recession, have brought issues to the fore that were far from voters' minds when the campaign began six weeks ago.