The Canadian Press

The federal Conservatives have suspended Parliament until after the Winter Olympics, a move that gives Prime Minister Stephen Harper a tighter grip on the country’s political agenda.

The Tories said Wednesday they need to make a clean break and reboot Parliament now that the economy is no longer in crisis. They’re even considering making prorogation an annual event, so they can start each year anew with a throne speech that serves as an overview of what they plan to do in the coming year.

But the opposition says the shut-down is just a ploy to avoid questions about the handling of Afghan detainees and climate change.

“The specific reason here is that Stephen Harper doesn’t feel like coming back to town and answering questions about his government,’’ NDP Leader Jack Layton said in an interview.

“Even though Canadians elected a majority of MPs to hold him to account, he prefers to stay away.’’

Instead of resuming work as scheduled on Jan. 25, Parliament will start afresh on March 3 with a speech from the throne, followed by a new budget the next day, said Dimitri Soudas, spokesman for Harper.

The prime minister did not make the announcement in person, nor did he meet face-to-face with the Governor General to ask for a formal prorogation. Rather, Harper made that request over the telephone, Soudas said.

“Now is the time to also engage with constituents, stakeholders and businesses in order to listen to Canadians, identify priorities and to set the next stage of our agenda,’’ Soudas said in justifying the suspension.

“Minority governments have a different horizon than majority governments, and also those change quickly. So this is time to recalibrate, consult and deliver the next stage of our plan.’’

The suspension of parliamentary activity means Conservative cabinet ministers won’t face daily questions from their political opponents.

It also means all committees will be disbanded, scuttling the hearings into the controversial handling of Afghan detainees, for example.

It means the Conservatives will have time to fill five Senate vacancies with their own allies, robbing the Liberals of a majority in the upper house.

And it means the Conservatives will have more control over the timing of an election call, by making votes on the budget and the throne speech a confidence issue.

But Soudas said private members’ bills in the works — including a Conservative backbencher’s bill to kill the long-gun registry — would survive the suspension of Parliament. Government bills will also be re-introduced, although in their original form and not with the amendments proposed in the previous session.