Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Sunday he wants to help the Liberal government resolve the ongoing trade dispute with the United States, which Prime Minister Mark Carney said was a top priority.
Both leaders addressed their respective caucuses as Parliament is set to return Monday after over five months away, allowing MPs to finally consider legislation to address U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and pressing affordability concerns.
“We all want a permanent end to the tariffs with the U.S., and we will work with the government to help make that happen,” Poilievre told Conservative MPs in Ottawa.
“I’ve already told the Prime Minister that we are happy to cooperate any way we can to bring about an end to this unnecessary dispute and restore our sovereignty.”
Andrew Scheer, who will be leading the Conservatives in the House of Commons until Poilievre can gain a seat in a future byelection, said earlier this month he also intends to help the Liberals as much as possible on the U.S. trade and security issue.
Carney told his expanded Liberal caucus that the government “will fight to ensure that Canadians get the best relationship possible with the United States, and we will take the time to do so.”
“At the same time, we will strengthen our partnerships with reliable allies,” he said. “Canada has what the world needs, and we will defend the values that the world respects.”
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators met with Carney last week in Ottawa on a visit to reaffirm and strengthen the U.S.-Canada relationship.
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Trump has cooled his rhetoric toward Canada after meeting with Carney at the White House earlier this month, and has said a new deal and partnerships on security are possible.
Carney has tasked his cabinet in negotiating new deals with the U.S. while diversifying international trade and shoring up the domestic economy.
The prime minister on Sunday promised “one of the most busy returns to Parliament in Canadian history,” with several pieces of legislation to be introduced in the coming days.
“We are going to be very, very busy in the next few weeks” and months, he said. “We’re going to have to do things previously thought impossible, at speeds not seen in generations.”
Carney warned that years of weakening productivity has made life less affordable while straining government finances, which his government is committed to addressing.
“These are challenges we must face and turn into opportunities,” he said.
Poilievre, despite losing his own House of Commons seat and a fourth straight election for the Conservatives, earned a rousing response from his caucus as he promised to press the Liberals on keeping their word on expanding energy projects and lowering taxes.
“We have priorities and therefore we need a plan,” he said, before criticizing the Liberals’ decision to not present a federal budget until the fall.
“A budget is a plan. It is literally a plan.”
Carney has said the government will need time to factor in impacts from U.S. tariffs and new domestic measures before presenting a full fiscal blueprint.
The prime minister said Sunday the government will introduce “immediate legislation” to fast-track energy projects “of national interest,” and to eliminate federal barriers to interprovincial trade by Canada Day this year.
He did not detail exactly what the energy project legislation would entail, or if it would repeal existing laws that Poilievre said stand in the way of building those new projects.
Poilievre said Conservatives would support measures to scrap the industrial carbon price, caps on energy production, limits on pipeline construction and the moratorium on large oil tankers off British Columbia’s coast.
“If the government agrees to these changes, we will move as early as this spring to pass them all,” he said. “They have our word.”
Carney also promised measures that would increase investment in the Canadian Armed Forces and border security. He said new Criminal Code reforms will make it harder to get bail for offenders charged with auto theft, home invasion, drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Poilievre said Conservatives “will fight to end catch-and-release bail” and enact tougher criminal penalties.
The Liberals have already vowed that a “middle-class tax cut” will be the first piece of legislation introduced after King Charles III delivers the speech from the throne on Tuesday.
Electing a Speaker to oversee Commons business will be the first priority upon Parliament returning on Monday.
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