Harper's prorogation retort? 'We need the time'

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was in New Brunswick on Friday to mark the opening of a new international bridge with the United States, was asked by reporters about " growing public opinion" against his decision to prorogue Parliament until after the winter Olympics.

The question came shortly after Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff had held his own news conference to say Canadians want politicians to stay on the job and that his own caucus would be in Ottawa throughout the prorogation.

"It's interesting to see, a week after we set the date for Parliament to return, that the opposition now says they are going to be really mad about this when they get back from vacation," Mr. Harper replied.

The actual effects of prorogation will not be felt until Jan. 25 - the date that MPs were due to return following a Christmas break.

"The fact of the matter is this," the Prime Minister continued, "the government is going to take advantage of this time - we need the time - to look carefully at our agenda, to continue to deliver the economic measures that are being delivered here and elsewhere across there country as part of the economic action plan. We also need time to re-examine our agenda, to prepare for the next year in Parliament, and to prepare for a very different economy going forward."

Mr. Harper said there has been some economic stabilization and there is more recovery to come.

"We need to get policies in place to better build that recovery and to build the jobs of the future," he said, "but at the same time to do so in an environment where governments across this country will have to begin to reduce our deficits."

An online Angus Reid poll that was released Thursday suggests that roughly 38 per cent of Canadians believe prorogation was actually invoked in order to curtail an inquiry into the treatment of Afghan detainees.

About 23 per cent of the respondents said they accepted the federal government's assertion that prorogation is necessary to recalibrate, consult and deliver the next stage of the economic plan.

The rest didn't know who to believe.

(Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)