Liberals, Conservatives already at odds as MPs return to Parliament

It’s back to work — and debates — as federal MPs in Canada as Parliament returned Monday morning after a three-month break.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is making promises of significant developments in areas like housing and crime laws.

The government outlined its priorities as the House of Commons sat again in Ottawa, and for the first time this session, Carney was face-to-face in the commons with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

There was a lot of discussion about the need for collaboration, with MPs recognizing the need to work together for the good of the country.

But that call for collaboration ran right into party politics.

Back in the House of Commons as Opposition Leader, Poilievre said not much has changed.

“We have a Liberal prime minister breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits with costs, crime and chaos out of control,” said Poilievre.

He returned to Parliament after winning an Alberta by-election following his earlier election defeat, and it was his first time facing Carney as prime minister.

“We are building the strongest economy throughout the worst crisis in our history,” said Carney.

The Conservatives have been pressing the Liberal government on what they call rising, out-of-control crime in Canadian communities.

Poilievre maintained things like food prices are going up despite Carney’s promises, while the government’s budget deficit is expected to double.

He has promised new legislation to tighten bail rules for people with past convictions or those accused of serious crimes.

“Why is it all of this prime minister’s promises of yesterday turn into today’s disappointment?” said Poilievre.

Carney defended his decisions like his housing program, and increased spending and tax cuts.

“Mr. Speaker, this government has been absolutely focused on improving affordability for Canadians, every taxpayer in this country,” said Carney.

The government outlined its priorities as measures to curb crime, build housing, and deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war.

“The actions taken by the United States have not simply created a transformation of the global trading system, it is a rupture and Canada will respond by diversifying its trade,” said Steven MacKinnon, the Government House Leader.

With the steel industry saying there are companies in cities like Hamilton just hanging on in the face of Trump’s trade war.

“This is a hanging-by-a-thread type of thing to continue, to survive this situation,” said Catherine Cobden with the Steel Producers Association.

The Canadian Steel Producers Association says it has three points it wants all MPs to deal with: all party support for new further trade measures than what they’ve seen so far; retaliation on U.S. steel that is still coming into Canada; a policy that builds on buying Canadian steel, saying all the “buy Canadian” talk so far could be better.

“As all the impacts pile up, we can’t just sit back on our laurels and think that everything’s fine — it’s not,” said Cobden. “Impacts continue to grow, we’ve seen significant declines, we’ve seen job losses.”

“You know the story of the situation we’re facing, you know it very well in Hamilton, so we really need to continue to press the government,” said Cobden.

At the same time, Carney and his ministers are talking a lot about collaboration with the opposition, while they’re attacking the people they want to collaborate with.

“I am under no illusions about what we face with the Conservatives under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre,” said MacKinnon. “In the last Parliament, Mr. Poilievre’s approach was far from responsible.”

The prime minister has already promised an austerity budget, raising fears of service cutbacks, but the Liberals have a minority government, with some opposition MPs saying they’re waiting to see the budget to decide if they’ll vote to keep it in power.

Carney’s legislative agenda includes a controversial border security bill that will require opposition support to pass.

Carney has also alluded to the fact that the fall budget — due out next month — is expected to contain a bigger deficit than last year’s, partially because of U.S. tariffs and Ottawa’s response to the trade war.

READ MORE: Both Conservatives and Liberals intend to introduce bail reform legislation this fall