'It's time to get serious,' Carney says after byelection sweep delivers him a majority government

ground government minister german mark Carney says he testament habituate his newly won majority to push through legislation that the opposition parties have stymied in recent years, saying his immediate focus will be quickly passing affordability measures and a bill designed to turbocharge home construction.

The Liberal candidates in two Toronto ridings trounced their opponents in Monday's byelections, improving on the party's already strong showing in both seats at the last general election. The party also won a closely fought contest in Terrebonne, a Montreal-area riding that has long been a Bloc Québécois stronghold.

Carney framed those victories, particularly the one in Quebec, as a strong endorsement of the government's agenda.

He said the electoral wins show the majority wasn't achieved by floor-crossings alone.

"I think, very clearly, Canadians want the government to govern," he said.

"That is the product of the last 24 hours: strong support, increasing support. The proportion of votes cast for the Liberal Party went up quite a bit. It's a strong vote in favour."

Carney said he "didn't go out and celebrate" last night, but looks forward to full control of the House of Commons so that he won't have to deal with what he described as "showboating," particularly at parliamentary committees, where filibustering has been a feature in recent years.

The Liberals' anti-hate bill, for example, was held up for months by a Conservative filibuster over the party's concerns that it could restrict free speech and religious freedoms. That led to some lengthy, off-topic soliloquies, including on the virtues of puppies, among other zany topics.

"We are going to have less of that and more substance. I think all parliamentarians in the end will appreciate that, even if it's a change for some of them," Carney said.

"It's time to get serious and we're going to be serious."

'We're going to have more substance,' less showboating with majority government, Carney says

Now that the Liberals hold the levers of power, the parliamentary committees are expected to be reconstituted, which will dilute opposition power by giving the Liberals a majority on each committee.

While that will help government legislation pass through Parliament faster, it also means Liberal members can more easily shut down opposition probes into government missteps or alleged wrongdoing.

The Conservatives have been jockeying to haul Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne before committee after he recused himself from decisions regarding Alto, the high-speed rail project, due to a personal conflict of interest: his partner works as a vice-president at the Crown corporation.

That project was partially funded in Champagne's budget last fall.

The fate of such an inquiry is now uncertain.

While the the Liberals have obtained limited opposition support for parts of their agenda like changes to how natural resources projects are approved, the Carney government struggled to move much of it through Parliament in its first year.

Fewer than half of government bills have become law — a figure that is expected to increase in short order now that Carney won't have to cajole other parties to back his policies.

Senior reporter

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