With Parliament back in session, the Liberals must shore up support for the upcoming fall budget, but were quickly back to trading blows with Conservatives across the aisle.
When politicians returned to Ottawa on Monday, they were greeted with a crowd of protesters wielding flags and signs reading: “Fuck Carney,” “globalism is communism,” and “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” to name a few. An already heavy Parliamentary security presence grew — along with the crowd — throughout the day. Inside the House of Commons, the temperature also ramped up gradually.
Liberal House Leader Steven MacKinnon started the day by highlighting what Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has done so far — cancelling the consumer carbon price, creating the Major Projects Office, and most recently, launching the Build Canada Homes Program — but the real question is how they will accomplish the rest of their to-do list in a minority Parliament.
MacKinnon said they will look to collaborate with all parties and MPs to pass the fall budget and other legislation, although he noted Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre seems to be sticking to “three-word slogans” and “a lot of angry rhetoric.”
“I am under no illusion about what we face with the Conservatives under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre,” MacKinnon said, referring to the months-long filibusters that plagued committee meetings and the chamber last fall, delaying the federal government’s agenda.
The Liberals are four seats short of a majority. Carney needs a dance partner. In the spring, the Conservative Party joined forces with the Liberals to push Bill C-5 through the legislative process at breakneck speed, much to the dismay of the Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Green Party. On Sunday, Poilievre said his MPs would work with any party while, in the same breath, he criticized Carney for making “everything worse.”
In Question Period, Carney and Poilievre faced off. First, they exchanged pleasantries, but the rebuttals quickly shifted to a more oppositional tone.
“When I left, there was a Liberal prime minister who was making excuses about breaking promises, running massive deficits, costs, crime, chaos were all out of control,” Poilievre said. “Whereas today, we have a liberal prime minister breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits with costs, crime and chaos out of control.”
Poilievre quickly went after Carney on affordability, the economy and the federal deficit.
“He promised that his government would have a smaller deficit than Justin Trudeau. Instead, now we hear that it might even be double,” Poilievre said. “Has there ever been a prime minister who has successfully doubled the deficit without even introducing a budget?”
MacKinnon said if the Conservatives want credit for some of the policies the federal government is pushing, “the credit is there for the taking.”
“I would say to Mr. Poilievre and to those that are around him, listen to those Conservative voters, listen to premiers like Danielle Smith, like Doug Ford, like Tim Houston, who are pitching in,” MacKinnon said.
Along with the fall budget (which Carney said will have both “austerity” and “investment”), the federal government has several bills it wants to pass. Bill C-3 would reverse an unconstitutional law that Canadians born abroad cannot pass down their citizenship if their child is born outside of Canada. Bill C-2 — the Strong Borders Act — is a controversial piece of legislation that would restrict asylum claims and grant broad powers to police and intelligence agencies.
So far, no party has committed to supporting the Liberals’ fall budget.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Monday he is willing to work with other parties as long as it benefits Quebec. Quebec NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice told reporters his caucus is ready to collaborate with the government “if it gets results.”
In an interview last Friday with Canada’s National Observer, Boulerice said he is “really, really worried” the federal government will not meet its 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
The federal government recently paused the electric vehicle sales mandate and is reviewing the policy following pressure from auto manufacturers. Carney killed the consumer carbon price as one of his first acts as Liberal Party leader and now, the future of the proposed cap on oil and gas emissions is uncertain.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, the party’s one remaining MP, believes the Liberals’ most likely ally is the Conservatives.
“So far … this has been a Liberal-Conservative coalition that ran through an omnibus bill that damaged Indigenous rights, damaged environmental law,” May said. The major projects bill was opposed by the NDP, BQ and Green Party. Carney announced the first tranche of projects, including LNG Canada Phase 2 designated in the national interest last week, with more to come in following weeks.
“It’s some strategy, obviously electorally, to cut Pierre Poilievre off at the knees by adopting all of his policies before Pierre Poilievre can be engaged in the next federal election,” May said. Her priority will be holding Carney’s feet to the fire on meeting Canada’s international climate targets.
“I’d like to see some evidence that he remembers what he wrote in the book, Values. Otherwise, I’m prepared to pony up and buy another one — retail price — and give it to him, so he might re-read it,” May said.
— With files from the Canadian Press
