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Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an argument Tuesday for pre-empting his own fixed-election law and dissolving Parliament, all but formally declaring he will call a snap election next week.

He said that the fixed election law only applies to majority governments. The next election is scheduled for Oct. 19, 2009, according to the law his government passed.

With some opposition parties saying for months they want an election, "I think if that is eventually where we have to go, I don't think they can say they're the least bit surprised," Harper told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Additionally, the Prime Minister's Office announced late Tuesday that Ontario Lt. Gov. David Onley will attend the Paralympics in Beijing instead of Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean from Sept. 5-10.

Harper needs to meet with Jean to call an election, and the announcement fuels speculation that the prime minister intends to drop the writ next week before three federal byelections on Sept. 8.

Harper also said that the Liberal's "green shift" plan is "diametrically opposed to everything this government stands for" and has made it impossible for the Conservatives to work with them on economic matters.

"I think you really have increasingly in Parliament two different visions of where we should be leading the country, particularly during challenging economic times, and that's something I'm going to have to reflect upon," he said.

"It's not a question of wanting to go to an election, it's the reality," Harper said.

Dion responds

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion responded that Harper is in a "full panic" and is "inventing any reason to rush to an election."

Dion said that Harper is looking to save face by looking for an "emergency" to call an election before the Conservatives' fixed election date of October 2009.

"He wants to go to an election before Canadians see he is ill-prepared to face the difficulties of the economy," Dion told reporters in Toronto.

The prime minister said that given the uncertainty about how effective Parliament could be when it resumes sitting on Sept. 15, an election could well be looming.

"I haven't made a decision," he said in French after first making a $100-million spending announcement to map the Arctic seabed.

But he complained that two opposition leaders -- Dion and the Bloc Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe -- won't meet with him before Sept. 9.

Dion strongly denied this, saying the first he heard of it was through the media.

Dion said that he had previously offered to meet with Harper on Tuesday but was told that the meeting could not happen.

"We learned, with you, through the media that (the Conservatives) were impatient for the time to schedule this meeting," Dion said. "We will not negotiate through the media."

He indicated he was too busy to meet with Harper until Sept. 9, the day after three federal byelections that the Tories are expected to lose.

Harper signalled that he would rather call an election before the byelections.

"We'll have to judge whether it's appropriate to ask people to vote twice in a space of a few weeks," he said.

Harper explains fixed election rationale

All the opposition parties are clear they won't support the government through to October 2009, Harper said.

"In the lack of certainty about an election date, it falls back to the government to create that certainty," Harper said.

"If any of the opposition parties wanted to provide any degree of certainty that we'll be here until October 2009, then we'll have an election in October 2009. I think all the signs are clear that they're all committed to precisely the opposite."

The public may be called on to make a choice about what direction the country should take. "If that's what we have to do, that's what we will do," Harper said.

Timing is everything

Craig Oliver, CTV's chief political correspondent, told Newsnet that the real issue is Harper's desire to control the election's timing.

"He is looking for an excuse for an election ... the prime minister wants this election on his timing, not on the opposition parties' timing," he said.

Oliver noted that Dion did not answer a question about his intentions to bring down the minority government during his press conference.

Senior Liberals have been telling Â鶹ӰÊÓ their party will move to bring down the government within weeks of Parliament resuming, Oliver said.

"We are in the dance of the time tables," Oliver said.

All prime ministers have used the power of their office to ensure the timing of any election was to their advantage, he said.

"Except that this is the prime minister who campaigned on a fixed election date, the idea being that future governments could not exploit their ability to manipulate the date of the election towards their own favourable timing. Well, that's what the prime minister is now doing," he said.

Oliver said today's announcement should be seen as the soft kickoff of an election campaign in which Arctic sovereignty will be a major Tory plank.

He suspected if Harper does trigger a vote, the election will be called on Sept. 5 or 6, with a voting day of Oct. 14.

But Liberals would prefer an election take place in late November or in early 2009, which would place it after the U.S. vote on Nov. 4, Oliver said.