The Liberals sharpened their attacks on the Conservatives as the House of Commons returned from its summer break on Monday with the prospect of a snap election looming large.
ItB次元官网网址檚 the first sitting since the New Democrats ended an agreement with the Liberals that insulated the minority government from losing a confidence vote.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould said the minority Parliament will now function the way the it did without the agreement, which is on a vote-by-vote basis.
B次元官网网址淚 have already been in touch with all of the House leaders in the opposition parties and my job now is to make Parliament work for Canadians,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淚 know that the end of the supply-and-confidence agreement makes things a bit different, but really all it does is returns us to a normal minority Parliament.B次元官网网址�
But Bloc Qu茅b茅cois Leader Yves-Fran莽ois Blanchet isnB次元官网网址檛 sure how long that will last, saying the parties are now taunting each to see who might flinch on matters like the federal carbon price.
B次元官网网址淲e are playing chicken with four cars. Eventually, one will hit another one, and there will be a wreckage. So, IB次元官网网址檓 not certain that this session will last a very long time,B次元官网网址� Blanchet told reporters on Monday.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre intends to bring a non-confidence motion against the government as early as this week but would likely need both the Bloc and NDP to support it. A similar motion he brought last March failed when both those parties voted against it, along with the Liberals.
Gould said she has no B次元官网网址渃rystal ballB次元官网网址� to say when or how often Poilievre might try to bring down the government.
Poilievre, who has been pushing for a B次元官网网址渃arbon tax electionB次元官网网址� for months, reiterated that demand Sunday in front of his caucus while painting a picture of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 future that is so bleak the Liberals denounced him as a fraud.
On Sunday, Poilievre said increasing the carbon price will cause a B次元官网网址渘uclear winter,B次元官网网址� saying Canadians will be starving and freezing because they canB次元官网网址檛 afford food or heat due the carbon price.
He said the LiberalsB次元官网网址� obsession with carbon pricing is B次元官网网址渁n existential threat to our economy and our way of life.B次元官网网址�
Gould Monday suggested PoilievreB次元官网网址檚 allegations were unbelievable.
B次元官网网址淲hat I heard yesterday from Mr. Poilievre was so over the top, so irresponsible, so immature, and something that only a fraudster would do,B次元官网网址� Gould said.
The Liberals have also accused the Conservatives of dismissing the expertise of more than 200 economists who wrote a letter earlier this year describing the carbon price as the least expensive, most efficient way to lower emissions.
The carbon price currently adds about 17.6 cents to every litre of gasoline, but that cost is offset by carbon rebates mailed to Canadians every three months.
The Liberals have repeatedly pointed to a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis that shows eight in 10 households receive more from the rebates than they pay in carbon pricing, while the Tories note the conclusion from that same analysis, that the carbon price could cause long-term economic harm to jobs and wage growth.
Gould accused Poilievre of ignoring the rebates, and refusing to tell Canadians how he would make life more affordable while battling climate change.
Despite previously supporting the consumer carbon price, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been distancing himself from the policy.
Singh wouldnB次元官网网址檛 say last week whether an NDP government would keep the consumer carbon price. On Monday, he told reporters Canadians were already B次元官网网址渄oing their partB次元官网网址� to fight climate change, but that big polluters are getting a B次元官网网址渇ree ride.B次元官网网址�
Big industry pays the same price per tonne for the carbon price. While consumers and smaller businesses pay it on fuels they purchase, big industrial emitters pay it on a portion of the emissions they actually produce.
The Canadian Climate Institute said earlier this year that by 2030 both carbon pricing systems could cut emissions 100 million tonnes a year, with one-fifth of that coming from the consumer side and the rest from big industry.
Singh said the New Democrats will focus this fall on affordability issues like housing and grocery costs, arguing the Liberals and Conservatives are beholden to big business.
B次元官网网址淭heir governments have been in it for CEOs and big corporations,B次元官网网址� he told reporters Monday on Parliament Hill.
The Liberals said at their caucus retreat last week that they would be sharpening their attacks on Poilievre this fall, seeking to reverse his months-long rise in the polls. GouldB次元官网网址檚 attack on Poilievre Monday seemed to be proof of that in action.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland suggested she had no qualms with criticizing PoilievreB次元官网网址檚 rhetoric while having a colleague call him a fraudster.
She said Monday that the Liberals must B次元官网网址渂e really clear with Canadians about what the Conservative Party is saying, about what it is standing for B次元官网网址� and about the veracity, or not, of the statements of the Conservative leader.B次元官网网址�
Meanwhile, Gould insisted the government has listened to the concerns of Canadians and received the message when the Liberals were defeated in a Toronto byelection in June, losing a seat the party had held since 1997.
B次元官网网址淲e certainly got the message from TorontoB次元官网网址擲t. PaulB次元官网网址檚 and have spent the summer reflecting on what that means and are coming back to Parliament, I think, very clearly focused on ensuring that Canadians are at the centre of everything that we do moving forward,B次元官网网址� she said.
The Liberals are bracing, however, for the possibility of another blow Monday night, in a tight race to hold a Montreal seat in a byelection there. Voters in LaSalleB次元官网网址斆塵ardB次元官网网址擵erdun are casting ballots to replace former justice minister David Lametti, who was removed from cabinet in 2023 and resigned as an MP in January.
The Conservatives and NDP are also in a tight race in ElmwoodB次元官网网址擳ranscona, a Winnipeg seat that has mostly been held by the NDP over the last several decades.
There are several key bills making their way through the legislative process, including the online harms act and the NDP-endorsed pharmacare bill, which is currently in the Senate.
