UPDATE 1-Canada to hold election overshadowed by meltdown

(Adds new quotes from leaders, latest polls)

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Canada's ruling Conservatives look set to retain power on Tuesday in the first national election held in a major industrialized nation since the market meltdown this month.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper triggered the campaign five weeks ago on the grounds that his minority government could no longer work with opposition parties who hold the balance of power in Parliament.

Then shares began to plummet and Harper retooled his campaign in a bid to persuade Canadians that only he could manage the country in such troubled times.

"(We have) a plan that in the midst of this world financial crisis has kept our economy creating jobs, kept our budgets balanced and kept your bank accounts safe and secure," he told a rally in Cornwall, Prince Edward Island on Monday.

Harper has dismissed opposition calls for major government spending programs.

The election is the third in four years and -- according to virtually every poll over the last month -- will produce Canada's third successive minority government.

Harper, who defeated a minority Liberal administration in January 2006, foresees another election relatively soon.

"Obviously the Parliament won't last four years," he told CTV television on Sunday.

The Liberals were hampered in the campaign by the ineffective performance of leader Stephane Dion and his insistence that despite tumbling markets and fears of a recession, the party would impose a carbon tax designed to cut greenhouse gases.

Harper says the tax would trigger an immediate recession "as bad as anywhere in the world." Dion says this is a lie.

"We don't want any more Stephen Harper. Enough is enough," he told a rally in Fredericton, New Brunswick on Monday.

Harper is promising to keep taxes and inflation low while maintaining balanced budgets.

"It's the leadership and the plan we need for tough economic times," said Edgar Maghilom, a voter who works at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

"This is the wrong time to tax people. We need a steady hand and good government," he said.