Prime Minister Stephen Harper is willing to re-enter debate over the Constitution in order to address concerns across the country, he told CBC News as legislators prepare for Parliament to resume Monday.

"Ultimately, there will have to be constitutional changes," Harper said in an interview with CBC Radio's The House on the weekend.

The comment came as Harper and his Conservative minority government get ready for the opening of the 39th Parliament in Ottawa. Harper became prime minister after the Jan. 23 general election that saw the defeat of the Liberal minority government under Paul Martin.

Stephen Harper said he might open constitutional debate not just to 'accommodate Quebec,' but other parts of the country. (CP file photo)
Stephen Harper said he might open constitutional debate not just to 'accommodate Quebec,' but other parts of the country. (CP file photo)

Harper told the CBC that, as he considers his moves in the weeks and months ahead, constitutional change would be on his list – and not for only one province.

Harper said he would act not "just to accommodate Quebec but also to accommodate demands we have from the West and from other parts of the country."

The prime minister also said that any revisiting of the constitution would have to involve concerns from all of "the population of Canada."

Since its election, the Harper government has put an emphasis on five issues: accountability, GST cuts, law and order, childcare and health care.

Harper also told the CBC he will work to rectify questions of a fiscal imbalance between the federal and provincial levels.

"We're prepared to do what we can to address it," he said.

"Now, the truth of the matter is the provinces don't all agree on the size of the problem, the nature of how that problem should be solved across the country."

Layton says NDP will push ethics, environment

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jack Layton said Sunday he wants to see that issues such as parliamentary ethics and the environment are also given top priority.

"The Conservatives are turning out to be just as bad as the Liberals," Layton told delegates at the NDP federal council meeting in Ottawa.

Layton said he wanted to see a parliamentary debate on Canada's military role in Afghanistan.

The NDP leader also said his party would not be willing to see Harper's minority government change laws in areas such as same-sex marriage.

Layton said the NDP will "stand firm" against any attempt "to roll back the clock on progress in this country."

This will be the first time the new Conservative party has taken power since the merger of the old Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties. The Progressive Conservatives were last in power in 1993.

As Parliament opens, the Conservatives hold 125 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons. The Liberals have 102 seats, the Bloc Québécois have 51 and the New Democrats have 29. There is one Independent MP.