Parliament returns Monday with Carney’s first budget on the horizon

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will square off for first time as Parliament resumes today.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to square off with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in Parliament for the first time this week when the House of Commons reconvenes for the fall sitting.

Poilievre won a byelection in Alberta last month, allowing him to return to his familiar seat as Opposition leader when things get underway on Monday.

On Sunday, the Tory leader spoke to his caucus as they prepare for a reset.

He pledged the Conservatives will “work with anybody from any party in order to make this session a success for the Canadian people,” signalling there could be more co-operation across the aisle as the minority Liberals look to implement their agenda.

“We will oppose things we’re against, support things we are for, but we will also propose solutions to the problems Liberals have created,” Poilievre said.

During the short spring sitting following April’s election, Conservatives voted with the Liberals to pass the One Canadian Economy Act, the marquee piece of legislation aimed at fast-tracking the approvals for projects deemed to be in the national interest.

Last week, Carney revealed the first list of projects that have been referred to the new major projects office as part of that push to build faster.

Poilievre slammed the announcement on Sunday, saying Carney has failed to grant any permits for a new nation-building project.

“He promised that after 10 years of Liberal government driving up costs and crime and chaos, that he would be different. And yet, sadly, everything is worse,” he told fellow Conservatives.

At a press conference on Sunday, Carney was asked whether his government will be able to co-operate with the opposition parties in Parliament. He said there has been a broad recognition that now is a moment for unity.

“That’s what Canadians expect. And if we can do it with all the provinces, with the unions, with the private sector, with the innovators, with Canadians, surely the opposition parties can co-operate with us,” he said.

The first few weeks of the sitting will build toward the Carney government tabling its first budget in October.

Carney has said the budget will include both “austerity” and “investment” as the government looks to rein in operational spending while putting money into projects aimed at growing the economy and ramping up defence spending.

On Sunday, the prime minister said the deficit has grown since last year, though he said the specific number will come in the budget.

Driving that, he said, are U.S. tariffs and Canada’s response.

“We want to protect our industries and workers in the most affected sectors,” he said.

Tyler Meredith, a partner at the public affairs firm Meredith Boessenkool and Phillips, said the threat from U.S. President Donald Trump has fallen below some other concerns for many Canadians since the election campaign.

“We are getting back to the other sets of issues that have traditionally dominated the Canadian political space for the last two years: affordability, crime, housing,” he said.

Meredith, who was also an economic adviser to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, said the Liberals also may need to take action to help Canadians who are feeling the rising cost of living and the effect of Trump’s tariffs.

He pointed out the Carney government introduced legislation in the spring to enact an income-tax cut and to eliminate the GST for first-time homebuyers who are buying a home under $1 million.

Tim Powers, a Conservative commentator and chair of Summa Strategies, said he’s watching to see the tone of the fall sitting.

“I think you’re going to have pesky Pierre versus calm Carney,” he said.

Poilievre needs to win a party leadership review at the Conservative convention in January, and “the people that like his aggressive, pesky, pugilistic style aren’t going to want him to waver from that,” Powers said.

He expects the Conservatives to keep focused on affordability, crime and immigration -- all of which are emotional issues for many Canadians.

“I think there is a legitimate anxiety around people’s own personal economic circumstances, and wrongly, in a lot of cases, they’re linking it to jobs not being available because people are taking them from them,” he said.

The NDP will be trying to regain their footing during a leadership contest after a crushing defeat in April saw them lose official party status in Parliament.

New Democrats are set to choose their next leader in March. Interim leader Don Davies is joined by just six other MPs who have less prominence and less speaking time in the House of Commons.

Still, the minority Liberal government will need support from other MPs to pass legislation, and will have to look to the NDP or Bloc Quebecois if they cannot get the Conservatives on board.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press