Poilievre pledges co-operation, calls for action from Liberals as Parliament returns

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the prime minister to deliver results when Parliament resumes next week, as the Liberals say they hope to work with the Conservatives to advance legislation.

In a letter to Mark Carney Saturday under the subject line “Time to turn rhetoric into reality,” Poilievre said he’s offering to help fast-track policies to enact trade deals, make groceries more affordable, fix the bail system and approve major projects.

The Conservative leader also offered that members of his caucus could travel to the U.S. or other trading partners as part of bipartisan delegations.

But Poilievre’s letter also took sharp jabs at the Liberal government’s record. It opened with a quote from Carney’s now-viral speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week: “A country that can’t feed itself, fuel itself, or defend itself has few options.”

Poilievre said Canada can’t do any of those things, despite Carney’s “rhetoric,” pointing to food price inflation, rising gas prices due to “anti-energy” policies and gaps in Canada’s military personnel and resources.

“You said you would move at speeds not seen since the Second World War. But the reality does not match the rhetoric,” Poilievre wrote.

“Sure, the deficit has doubled. But little else has changed. People cannot eat speeches. Photo ops don’t stop criminals. Pipelines need permits not signing ceremonies and red carpets.”

The letter was sent to Carney before Parliament is set to open Monday after a six-week winter break.

Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon told reporters he hopes “a lot” of legislation gets passed. The Liberals moved a relatively small amount of legislation this past fall and the Tories argue the House has been sitting at a historically low frequency.

MacKinnon would not say which bills are taking on a priority this spring.

“They’re all priorities. Bills are like my children, it’s very hard to pick between them,” he said.

MacKinnon said the government is considering Poilievre’s written proposals.

“We’re taking a good look at that and we’ll be interested to follow up,” said MacKinnon, who is also transport minister.

“Let’s hope that we’re at the dawn of a new day of co-operation.”

He would not speculate on the prospect of more MPs crossing the floor to the Liberals after two Conservatives joined the government, which is a few seats short of a parliamentary majority.

Other Liberal MPs declined to share whether they were given a detailed sense of the legislative priorities for the session, but some mentioned that the cost of living will be a prominent focus.

MP James Maloney, who chairs the Liberal caucus, said to “stay tuned” for any action on affordability issues, but said it’s the top issue for his MP colleagues from across Ontario.

“That’s why the prime minister is doing what he continues to do. We’re increasing Canadians’ customer base and working on trade relationships with everybody, and all of that will pay dividends,” he said.

In his letter, Poilievre proposed a list of ways the Conservatives would help advance shared priorities, but most of them involved supporting Conservative proposals and significant legislative amendments to what the government has tabled.

He said Conservatives would help fast-track bills to enact trade deals, including one to invite the United Kingdom to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and another to approve the Canada-Indonesia Trade Deal.

He also offered to team up with Liberals to advance Canada’s trade ties abroad.

“Members of our Conservative team are ready to travel to the United States or other markets to open up trade, including in bipartisan delegations, to expand exports,” Poilievre wrote.

The Canadian Press reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office for comment but has not yet received a response.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2026.

-- With files from Sarah Ritchie