Prime Minister Stephen Harper has decided to delay the opening of the fall session of Parliament to Oct. 16, setting up the possibility of a fall election if the opposition parties vote against the government's throne speech.

Parliament was scheduled to resume on Sept. 17, but Harper has chosen to end the First Session of Canada's 39th Parliament early.

"The First Session of the 39th Parliament was exceptionally productive, especially for a Government in a minority situation," Harper said in a press release late Tuesday. "We delivered on all the major commitments we made to Canadians during the 2006 election."

CTV's Mike Duffy reported on the decision earlier in the day, and said the Conservatives had lengthy debates on whether to prorogue Parliament.

"People at very high levels here in the capital tell me that this has been considered for some time by the prime minister and his most senior ministers," said Duffy.

Parliament will begin with a throne speech that will, in effect, set the stage for a vote of non-confidence. The parties would vote on the speech within six working days, and the Conservatives currently have 125 of 308 seats.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe has threatened to topple the government unless there is a clear mandate to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by February 2009.

"There are many people here who believe that the return to Parliament on October 16th is setting the stage for the potential of a fall election, which would come in the month of November," Duffy reported.

The Bloc and Liberals have a combined 145 seats, so could force an election if both vote against the speech, along with the NDP. But Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has hinted he wants to see what the government intends before deciding.

Dion criticized Harper's decision to end the First Session early, saying the government had failed to resolve important issues like climate change and "Canada's mission in Afghanistan."

"There are a number of important pieces of legislation that will be lost because of the Prime Minister's decision, including the Clean Air and Climate Change Act, which has taken months of work in committee to amend to make it a valuable tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put Canada's industrial emitters on a carbon budget," he said in a press release.

One of the reasons why Harper may have decided to delay the return of Parliament, Duffy said, is because the Ontario election will be held Oct. 10.

"With 108 seats from Ontario, they were afraid there would be daily efforts by the various parties in the House of Commons to try and raise issues on the federal scene that would benefit their provincial counterparts," he said.

The line from the Prime Minister's Office, Duffy said, is that the government doesn't want Ottawa to be seen as interfering in the Ontario election.

"That's the reason that will be given but, in fact, what the government wants to do is repackage itself to put forward some new visions," Duffy said.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said in late August that it would be a waste of time if Harper's government were to start a fresh session of Parliament with a speech from the throne. On Tuesday, he said Harper was preventing MPs from doing their job.

"By his actions, Stephen Harper is effectively locking out MPs. We have work to do. Everyday families are counting on us, but Stephen Harper is preventing us from getting down to work," said Layton.