Canada's Prime minister-designate Stephen Harper Thursday announced his priorities upon taking office, which will include cleaning up government, tax cut and health care.

In his first news conference as prime minister-designate, Harper said he will immediately put into action those promises he made during the election campaign.

On Monday's 39th general election, Harper won a minority government with 124 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons, ending a 12-year Liberal rule. At 46, he will become one of Canada's youngest prime ministers.

Besides a proposed federal accountability act, Harper said he will also work to implement his proposals to lower taxes beginning with the Goods and Service Tax (GST), address the fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces, and establish wait time standards in health care.

On Canada-U.S. relations, Harper issued a strongly-worded statement in response to the U.S. ambassador's recent remark on Arctic waters.

He warned the U.S. to mind its own business when it comes to Canada's Arctic, and said he would stick to his plans to assert Canadian sovereignty over Arctic waters that he made during the campaign.

"The United States defends its sovereignty, the Canadian government will defend our sovereignty," Harper said "... It is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not from the ambassador to the United States."

On Wednesday, U.S. ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, said the U.S. opposes Harper's proposed plan to deploy military icebreakers in the Arctic to detect interlopers and assert Canadian sovereignty over those waters.

Harper also announced that he will be sworn in as Canada's 22nd prime minister on February 6.

On top of spending the past few days consulting with his transition team, Harper said he has been busy speaking with the premiers, as well as world leaders such as U.S. President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Harper made his first official visit Thursday morning to Rideau Hall, the Governor General's official residence, to kickstart the process of forming a new government.

Source: Xinhua