Joan Bryden, THE CANADIAN PRESS

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WINNIPEG - Stephane Dion finetuned his carbon-tax plan to make it more palatable to farmers, loggers, truckers and fishers Wednesday as he snagged Canada's highest-profile farmer as a Liberal election candidate.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion speaks at a town hall meeting about his party's Green Shift plan on the environment at Cresentwood Community Centre in Winnipeg.

The surprise recruitment of Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen to run in a Winnipeg riding helped blunt criticism that the Liberal leader is scrambling days before an election call to make the risky main plank of his election platform more marketable.

Dion told a Liberal caucus retreat that he will use up almost all the $1-billion contingency fund set aside in his original green shift plan to make the proposed carbon tax easier to bear for those most dependent on fossil fuels.

The sweeteners include:

- $400 million in emission-reduction credits to reward farmers and forestry companies that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

-a $250-million "green farms fund" to support environmentally friendly research and offer farmers rebates on the purchase of technologies that will cut fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions.

-Another $250-million fund to help fishermen and truckers purchase energy-efficient equipment.

Dion promised he'll announce additional programs during the campaign to help other Canadians save money and reduce their emissions.

"Then Canadians will see more than ever that we have the best plan for the environment, the best plan for the economy of the 21st century, for the planet and their wallets," he told his caucus.

Under the green shift, Dion proposes to raise more than $15 billion in carbon taxes on fossil fuels, to be offset by equivalent tax cuts on income and business and tax breaks for the most vulnerable.

Dion followed up Wednesday's modifications with the announcement of Friesen's candidacy, giving the new recruit credit as one of the chief architects of the adjustments.

In turn, Friesen lauded Dion as a man of "integrity and very good, sound judgment" who is committed to developing good policy for Canada. In modifying the green shift plan, he said Dion has proved he's committed to "listening to Canadians" and acting upon their concerns.

"It wasn't a reversal. I don't know where they came up with that," Friesen said of Dion's critics.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have been targeting Dion's green plan in television and radio ads, saying it will kill jobs and drive up the cost of living. They kept up the attack Wednesday.

In Windsor, Ont., Harper said shortly before Dion spoke that changing the tax structure is folly in the face of economic hard times.

"I think it's a crazy time for the country to take risks," the prime minister said.

"I think when at the middle of a slowdown an opposition leader is proposing new taxes and tells the Canadian people after several months that he's still changing it on the back of envelopes after meetings, I think people's alarm bells should be up."

But Liberal MPs, particularly from rural ridings and Atlantic Canda, were clearly relieved. They had lobbied hard for adjustments to the green shift after finding it a tough sell with their constituents over the summer.

Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter, who had been among the most adamant about the need for changes, said he was happy with the modifications.

"What real leadership is all about in my mind is putting a plan out there in its full scope, hearing feedback from discussions, making adjustments where necessary to improve it for the benefit of all Canadians and that's what I see that's happening," he said.

Easter said the changes "make the farm community partners in terms of improving the environment."

Dion also buoyed his troops with a fiesty attack on Harper's management of the weakening economy, accusing him of adopting the "laissez faire, I don't care" approach. In the first two quarters of 2008, Dion said the economy performed the worst since 1991, when another Conservative, Brian Mulroney, was in the Prime Minister's Office.

"There is a pattern here. Every time Canada is governed by a Conservative government, the economy stalls, jobs are lost and deficits appear on the horizon," he said.

"Tory times are tough times. It's always the way . . . Liberals cleaned up the fiscal mess Conservatives left the last time (in 1993) and we will do it again."

Dion recited a litany of Harper's alleged flaws and failures, saying he's run "the most right-wing government" and "the most secretive, centralized and manipulative government" in Canadian history. He also accused Harper of adopting the views of extreme right Republicans in the United States, quipping that Harper "wants to give (President) George W. Bush a third mandate in Ottawa."

Liberal MPs and senators, who gave Dion repeated ovations, were at pains Wednesday to portray the frequently fractious caucus as united behind the leader and raring to hit the hustings.

While many are privately nervous about how Dion will perform during his first campaign as leader, there was no public sign of concern.

Harper is expected to ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call a general election by week's end.

Dion has argued the Tory plan to regulate emissions will also increase costs to consumers, but without the offsetting tax cuts to help people adjust - a plan he's referred to as "all the pain, no gain."

Dion said a typical family of four earning $40,000 a year would save $1,900 in taxes in the fourth year of his Green Shift.

He said Harper wants an election now because he wants to avoid embarrassing losses in coming byelections and because his Conservative government has "serious ethical issues" and is "engulfed in scandals."