On the eve of the resumption of Parliament, Prime Minister Paul Martin said if it were up to him, there won't be a federal election this fall.

Martin on Sunday repeated his earlier line: that first, he wants Canadians to get all the facts about the sponsorship scandal from Justice John Gomery's report -- due to be released in November, with final recommendations not expected until February.

Martin has promised to call an election within 30 days of the final report.

"I gave my word," he said.

But in a speech to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Charlottetown, P.E.I., Martin said if the opposition parties team up to defeat his minority Liberals, there's nothing he can do.

"If the opposition wants to force an early election, well then they have the capacity to do so. I don't believe that's what Canadians want and I hope the opposition will put progress ahead of politics."

Recent public opinion polls suggest the Liberals still have a healthy lead in popular support.

But, "we're not there to look at polls," Martin insisted. "We're there to govern."

Business matters

Martin kicked off his speech to the Chamber of Commerce with promises to reduce the country's debt, and to reduce taxes.

"We are going to make sure the balance sheet of this country can stand the test that anybody wants to throw at it," he said.

But Martin wouldn't give details.

He did, however, promise the interested business audience that the Liberals will follow through on its plan to reintroduce corporate tax cuts.

"They'll come in in the year 2008," said Martin. "We'll introduce them in time to make sure they can take place at that time. But the timing of that is up to the minister of finance.''

In order to win the support of the NDP, the Liberals shifted $4.6 billion in the last federal budget slated for corporate tax cuts to social spending.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce President Nancy Hughes Anthony said those cuts can't come fast enough.

"We would say go faster, go more aggressively. Don't wait until 2008," she told ATV News.

Hughes Anthony said the chamber believes the Liberals have the ability to cut taxes by $3 billion. She said Canada needs to move much faster to make its tax regime more competitive, given that China has surpassed Canada to become the United States' number one trading partner.

"And we would also say, and we've said to the prime minister, that average Canadians in terms of personal income taxes deserve a break."

Martin, however, was vague about personal income tax cuts, saying that it's up to Finance Minister Ralph Goodale.

But unless the partisan bickering that weighed Parliament down during the raucous spring session subsides, Hughes Anthony said there's little chance anything will get done.

"We want to see policies, not just politics," she said.

And Martin received a loud ovation from the business audience when he issued a plea for decorum during the fall session, which opens Monday.

"What I'm really asking is for all members to stop the name calling," Martin said.

"Why is it that people can say things inside the House of Commons that would be unacceptable outside the House of Commons?"

With a report by Dan Viau of ATV News in Charlottetown