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Prime Minister Stephen Harper says there'll be a fall election unless opposition parties pass Conservative measures on crime, the economy and the environment, and drop their “kangaroo court” tactics in parliamentary committees.

Beefing up his previous day's electoral challenge to the Liberals, Mr. Harper said on Thursday he wants to either pass more legislation this fall or “let the population decide.”

“Either we govern or we go to an election,” Mr. Harper said.

Mr. Harper capped a two-day caucus meeting by stating he wants the opposition to stop using their majorities on parliamentary committees to launch investigations into politically damaging controversies. In the last sitting of the House, opposition parties had a field day probing Maxime Bernier's salacious resignation as foreign affairs minister and alleged Conservative infractions when it came to election spending limits.

“I don't think [Canadians] believe the purpose of Parliament is to hold a bunch of kangaroo courts or to do investigations into scandals that never occurred,” Mr. Harper said. “These are all ridiculous political games that have nothing to do with the concerns of Canadians,” he said.

Conservative officials refused to state exactly which votes will be confidence measures when MPs reconvene in September. Still, Mr. Harper laid out a broad variety of issues that could lead to life-or-death votes for his government, “particularly on the economy, the environment and criminal justice.”

“If Mr. Dion is not willing to work with us, he must be willing to force an election,” Mr. Harper said.

Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale accused the Prime Minister of resorting to tactics that are “quite juvenile.” Mr. Goodale said the government is obviously trying to head off ethical controversies and the “disturbing news about the national economy.”

“We will take the issues as they come,” Mr. Goodale said about future votes in the House. “We are not going to be goaded, tricked or dared or spooked.”

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Harper refused to discuss recent poll results, which tend to show his party in a close race with the Liberals. New fundraising information, however, shows that the Conservatives are awash in cash, while the Liberals are still struggling to catch up. Over the past quarter, the Conservatives raised $3.5-million, compared to $980,000 for the Liberals and $712,000 for the NDP.