Stephen Harper "absolutely wants to call an election" for the fall, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said after meeting with the prime minister on Friday.

Gilles Duceppe talks to reporters on the grounds of 24 Sussex, the official residence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after meeting with Harper. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Harper should instead be seeking common ground with the opposition parties to pass legislation during the next session of Parliament, scheduled Sept. 15, Duceppe told reporters, but "the game plan has been set by the prime minister."

Harper has said the workings of the House of Commons, where his party's 127 seats give him a minority, have become "dysfunctional." The Liberals hold 95 seats, the Bloc 48 and the NDP 30. There are four independent MPs and four vacant seats.

Without providing details, the Bloc leader said he and Harper laid out their positions, but did not talk about compromises.

"We explained our positions and he will consider them. I told him what our position was on all of the issues. Now, I think that beyond that, he is determined to have an election," Duceppe said.

"He could try and act for the benefit of the people and see what kind of arrangment he could make with one or the other of the parties, but he's thinking of the interests of his own party," the Bloc leader added.

The two men met at the prime minister's residence at 24 Sussex Dr. to talk about whether it's best to swap the fall parliamentary session for an election campaign and a mid-October vote.

Many observers are predicting Harper will go to Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean sometime late next week to dissolve Parliament and clear the way for an early election.

The Reuters news agency said it spoke to an unidentified aide to Harper on Friday who said the prime minister sees Sept. 2-7 as the first window to call a general election, meaning a vote could be held on Oct. 14.

Duceppe is the first opposition leader to respond to Harper's call for one-on-one meetings. Earlier this month, Harper said he wanted to gauge support for Conservative policies before the resumption of Parliament.

NDP Leader Jack Layton will meet with Harper at 24 Sussex Dr. on Saturday.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's office has told Harper he would be available to meet with the prime minister on Sept. 9, a day after three byelections are to be held in Quebec and Ontario.

So far, Dion has not heard back from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The meeting with Duceppe was held as the Conservatives released new television commercials portraying Harper as a strong, steady leader who has lowered taxes and shored up the military.

The election-style ads, in both English and French, feature Canadians who offer a positive assessment of Harper.

"Stephen Harper's the kind of person who knows where he stands. He's a straight-up guy," one man says in the advertisement.

The 30-second spots are in sharp contrast to a spate of Conservative commercials released earlier in the summer, which focused on attacking Dion and his proposal to tax carbon emissions.