OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is suspending Parliament until March to give his government time to "recalibrate," an aide to the prime minister said on Wednesday. The move postpones the 2010 start of Canada's legislature to March 3 from Jan. 25 — after the winter Olympics in Vancouver — and lets the government prepare "the next stage of Canada's economic action plan," said Dimitri Soudas, Mr. Harper's press secretary. "Clearly this is a move on their part to avoid public scrutiny, to avoid further investigation on Afghan detainees," said Libby Davies, House leader for the opposition New Democratic Party.

The Leap Manifesto The Leap Manifesto is a document asserting support for indigenous rights, environmental protection and economic reform. First conceived in spring 2015 after Toronto meetings among many like-minded activists and advocates, it’s been signed by famous Canadians, like David Suzuki, Judy Rebick and Naomi Klein, and endorsed by organizations including Black Lives Matter Toronto and CUPE Ontario. What complicates matters for Mulcair is that it has also been embraced by more than a dozen NDP riding associations. The party will consider hundreds of resolutions submitted by riding associations and commission across the country, and that will include the Leap Manifesto itself, which has nearly 35,000 signatories so far. The Vancouver East NDP riding association, along with former MP Libby Davies, has proposed a resolution similar to the manifesto. Former MP Craig Scott told The Canadian Press late last month he plans to promote a resolution adopted by his Toronto-Danforth riding association that uses the Leap Manifesto as a starting point for policy discussion. Though he welcomed the input of new ideas, Mulcair himself didn’t officially endorse the manifesto when it was released in September. But given the support the Leaf Manifesto has within his party, along with the push by some in the NDP to orient the party more solidly to the left, he will likely have to address it.