Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday he will ask Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament, short-circuiting the current session, which was set to resume Sept. 17.

MPs will be recalled Oct. 16 to start a second session of the 39th Parliament with a speech from the throne, he said in a statement.

'Now it’s time to launch the next phase of our mandate.'— Prime Minister Stephen Harper

The CBC's Don Newman reported from Ottawa that the move sets the stage for a non-confidence vote that could trigger an election campaign — a vote and election campaign that could turn on Canada's commitment in Afghanistan.

Opposition parties must decide whether they want to bring down Harper's minority Conservative government, elected 18 months ago, and face another campaign.

In 2004, Paul Martin's Liberal minority dodged defeat temporarily by agreeing to accept a Conservative amendment to a throne speech motion.

The decision will leave Parliament dark during the campaigning for elections in Ontario (Oct. 10), the Northwest Territories (Oct. 1), Newfoundland and Labrador (Oct. 9) and an as-yet uncalled election in Saskatchewan.

It also lets the Conservatives have all hands on deck to help Tory candidates in the Ontario campaign and gives them a break from the daily scrutiny of Question Period and the horse-trading of minority government.

The throne speech may help Harper put a newer face on what he has called Canada's New Government.

In his statement, Harper said he was "pleased to report that Canada is united, our government is clean and our economy is strong. Now it’s time to launch the next phase of our mandate."

"The First Session of the 39th Parliament was exceptionally productive, especially for a Government in a minority situation," Harper said in a statement.

"We delivered on all the major commitments we made to Canadians during the 2006 election."