House leader calls on Conservatives to back the 'Carney plan' as Parliament reopens

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Carney says Davos speech made a point 'Canadians understood months ago'

Q & A | Carney takes questions on Trump, affordability and return of Parliament

Asked if the government is considering a snap election, MacKinnon says the government wants to make Parliament work and get Conservatives onside with bills on crime and affordability. 

"We were elected in April with a strong mandate. I think Canadians expressed themselves very clearly at that time with respect to their approval of Mr. Carney's plan," MacKinnon said. 

He said there's no need for an election if Poilievre drops his "obstruction" to the "Carney plan."

Carney addressed his speech in Quebec City, in response to a question about whether he would apologize to francophones. 

He said he wanted to clarify that he began his remarks Thursday by recognizing the struggle of francophones and the conflicts they endured, including the deportation of Acadians, but that there had been a desire from some for collaboration and that "it's because of the resilience of the francophone people that it was possible to create Canada."

He said Canada eventually came to recognize a third founding people: Indigenous people. 

"It was a very difficult history, but over time we were able to protect — and after more years to promote — the French language and culture, and institutions, such as the Quebec Civil Code," Carney said. 

"Canada is not perfect, but we have a better way of life [now]," he added.

In a letter to Carney on Friday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre offered to help get part of the Liberal agenda through Parliament quickly.

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said in a news conference this morning that he's expecting Poilievre to live up to that promise. "We will take him at his word and accept his outreached hand," he said.

MacKinnon wants the Conservatives to help pass the GST rebate for lower income Canadians that Carney announced this morning.

He also urged the Conservatives to vote for the "Carney plan," as he is now calling the budget implementation act. The budget included new infrastructure spending, a big boost to the military budget and new housing commitments to spur development. It also laid out a plan to cut the public service and immigration.

MacKinnon said he wants the Conservatives to stand down in its opposition to some crime measures.

There's also Bill C-12, which makes border and immigration changes. The government wants to pass legislation welcoming the U.K. Into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and ratify the new Canada-Indonesia free trade deal. The Liberals want Opposition help for all of this.

"Now is the time to get big things done," MacKinnon said.

Carney says that if Canada were pursuing a free trade agreement with China — "which we are not and never have" — that it would have to provide notice to the other parties of CUSMA, the United States and Mexico.

Carney was asked whether he was offended by being called "governor" by Trump on social.

The prime minister laughed briefly and said, "I think in this role you get called a lot of things, a lot of the time. And, you know, I'm not going to comment on every Tweet or Truth [Social post] or comment from whoever, so I can handle it."

Carney added: "But I do think this point about our troops is fundamental and respecting our troops, and the contribution that they've made."

Asked if he's going to call a snap election, Carney said that's not the government's focus right now.

"You can't draw that conclusion at all," Carney said after a reporter pointed out that this morning's announcement looked like an election-style campaign stop and could signal he's preparing for a vote.

"Of course we're not," Carney said. "We're working through Parliament to get results for Canadians."

Trump prompted an uproar last week when he claimed NATO sent "some troops" but "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines" in Afghanistan, sparking outrage from veterans and their families in Canada and across countries in the transatlantic alliance.

"We've never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them," Trump told Fox News.

Asked about those remarks today, Carney said "everyone should recognize" Canada's contribution to that conflict.

"We were the first to send support to New York City after 9/11. We sent 40,000 Canadian troops serving over 13 years — on the frontlines in Afghanistan," he said.

"One hundred and fifty-eight of those soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice."

Not only that, Carney said, 30 Canadian soldiers were awarded with American military medals for combat service in Afghanistan.

"It's an extraordinary contribution for liberty for freedom for human rights, defending the United States, defending Canadian values. Everyone should recognize that all Canadians are in their debt."

Our colleague Tom Parry asked Carney how he views U.S. President Donald Trump's hostility following the speech in Davos, namely the 100 per cent tariff threat and Trump calling Carney "governor" on social media.

Carney answered that he believes Trump's comments have been made in a "broader context" of trade negotiations with Canada, including with the upcoming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

"The president is a strong negotiator," Carney noted.

He said his Davos speech revealed how Canada understood "the scale of the change in U.S. Trade policy, what it meant for our economy … well before other countries" and has had to adapt to that change by "building at home" and expanding trade partnerships with other countries.

Carney noted his government has brokered 12 new trade and security agreements in six months and that there's "more to come," including with India.

Carney says global supply chain shocks caused by tariffs, climate change and "geopolitical disruptions" have pushed up food prices in particular.

The price of orange juice, ground beef, coffee and tea among other items have surged, he said.

He says the government can help with a more generous GST rebate, which returns a portion of the federal sales tax to Canadians with lower incomes.

To that end, the government is launching a new "Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit."

That means Ottawa is raising the existing GST credit amount by 25 per cent for five years.

There will also be a one-time top up this year.

Right now, an eligible family of four receives about $1,100 a year with the existing GST credit. With these changes, that same family will receive up to $1,890 this year, and about $1,400 a year for each of the next four years.

Carney's speech in Quebec City on Thursday was aimed more squarely at a domestic audience, and seemed to want to define the values that have defined Canada and ground his government's agenda in those values.

"Canada must be a beacon — an example to a world at sea," Carney said.

In it, Carney described the 1759 Battle on the Plains of Abraham as the start of a "partnership" between French and English people in Canada and called for national unity.

But Quebec sovereigntists said Carney was rewriting history. Sunday, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon blamed Carney's speech for effectively launching a referendum campaign for Quebec independence.

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