Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Wednesday that if the opposition supports his upcoming speech from the throne, they must also pass, at later dates, all items that come from it, or risk triggering a federal election.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa Wednesday. It was his first news conference at the theatre since becoming the prime minister.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

"The choice is not an election or obstruction. The choice is an election or give the government a mandate to govern," Harper said in his first news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa since becoming prime minister.

Harper told reporters that the Oct. 16 speech from the throne will lay out the government's plans, touching on issues such as the environment, the economy and Canada's place in the world.

Harper said he doesn't want an election before 2009. But the prime minister added that he would consider any votes during the upcoming parliamentary session on items in the speech from the throne as confidence motions.

"If they get approval of the throne speech, we're going to expect those things to be passed," Harper said.

Harper's Conservatives need the votes of at least one opposition party to survive a confidence vote on the speech from the throne.

Both Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe have warned that Harper must make major changes to it or they will vote against it.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said Wednesday that he'll have to wait and see whether any of the concerns he's laid out on the environment and Afghanistan are addressed.

But he said that when Harper was in opposition, he wanted to limit confidence votes to the speech from the throne and to the budget.

He said now Harper wants everything to lead to a threat of an election.

"It looks to me like he's more interested in playing political and parliamentary games than in respecting the principles he laid out at the time when he was in opposition."

Harper said a key priority that will be addressed in the speech from the throne will be Afghanistan.

In June, Harper said he wanted to find a consensus among all parties about what Canada should do when the February 2009 mission deadline in Afghanistan expires.

On Wednesday, Harper said consensus was perhaps the wrong word but that he does need some agreement.

"We have to have the support of some members of the opposition — parliamentary support to get a majority vote in favour of deployment," Harper said.