16F1826 cannot get MCLR to act as an INPUT

[LinkMTech]

I think a write to the latch register might do it:

mainloop:
Pause 10
if PortA.5= 1 then LATB.1 = 1 'turn ON an LED
if PortA.5= 0 then LATB.1= 0 'turn OFF an LED
goto mainloop