TORONTO -  Now is not the time for Ontario's Liberal government to quash debate and take a nine-week vacation while the province's economic troubles continue to deepen, the opposition parties said Thursday.

But calls to keep the doors to the legislature open during its scheduled holiday break were quickly rebuffed as the fall session drew to a combustible close.

Millions of Ontario residents who are worried about their jobs and homes are facing a bleak Christmas because the Liberals have done little to get the province back on track, said Opposition Leader Bob Runciman.

"Instead, we've seen a government that's banned more activities than a preschool, when it should have been working on getting Ontario's economy back on top where it traditionally has been," he said in the legislature.

Talks between the government and opposition parties can happen at any time, not just when the legislature is sitting, deputy premier George Smitherman shot back.

"The work of government and the necessity of responding to the challenges, the very real and genuine challenges for people in the province of Ontario, is not met alone on whether the house is in session," he said.

"It's met through the work that we do in our ridings and on a back-and-forth basis."

The heated exchange -- peppered with personal digs about Runciman's rumoured Senate ambitions -- capped off a tumultuous fall session that saw the province's sickly economy dominate much of the political debate.

Government bills that will place new restrictions on young drivers, stiffen penalties for animal abuse and introduce high-tech driver's licences to cross the U.S. border were overshadowed by a surprise deficit, massive job losses and the province's descent to have-not status.

Other legislation, including a long-awaited plan to tackle child poverty, will have to wait until Feb. 17, when politicians are expected to return to the legislature.

But that doesn't mean the government won't be hard at work over the next two months, preparing a budget that may come earlier than expected, said Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

The province is waiting to see what the embattled federal Tories will deliver in their budget Jan. 27, he said, which may include money for Ontario's ailing automotive industry.

"There's no doubt that the world economy and ... its impact on the automotive sector are dominating not only legislative affairs, but the complete affairs of the government of Ontario as well as governments around the world," Duncan said.

Premier Dalton McGuinty -- a no-show in the legislature Thursday -- has touted a plan to reduce child poverty as proof his party has found ways to help families during tough economic times.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton said the Liberals have made too many mistakes to be trusted with the economy, including so-called "restraint" measures that would give the premier a $3,000 pay raise.

McGuinty's recent advice that Ontario residents should go Christmas shopping if they don't want the economy to worsen only proves he's out of touch, Hampton said.

"When we should have seen bold action to sustain jobs and sustain the economy, what we saw instead was a premier with no plan and no clue," he said.

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, who has yet to find a seat in the legislature, said he's frustrated that McGuinty has ignored every idea his party has put forward to kick-start the economy.

Instead of following Prime Minister Stephen Harper's efforts to work with opposition parties, McGuinty is acting like it's "business as usual," he said.

"I'm not angry or disappointed that he is ignoring our suggestions," Tory said.

"I am angry and I am disappointed, like a lot of other people in this province, that he has no ideas of his own -- no action plan whatsoever."