Carney, Poilievre engaged in pleasant verbal joust as House of Commons resumes its sitting

OTTAWA ((TIP): Politics is an amazing game. At times, it says so much without creating a furor. Then there are times when it leads to uproars without anything substantial said or done.

On Monday, when the House of Commons reassembled, it not only accorded a warm welcome to the Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, back on the floor of the House, but also saw a couple of first-time MPs of Indian origin – Jagsharan Singh Mahal and Amarjeet Gill – on their feet.

They participated in both government business as well as private members’ statements period.

The limelight, however, was on Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre as they held their first-ever verbal joust in the House of Commons. It marked the beginning of the second sitting of the House as MPs returned to Ottawa for the fall sitting.

While Prime Minister Mark Carney had made his debut in Parliamentary debates when the new House constituted after the April 28 general elections held its first sitting.

New to electoral politics, Mark Carney was on his legs several times in the House last spring to take questions from opposition MPs, but Pierre Poilievre was not there at the time, having lost his long-held Carleton seat in the April 28 election.

When he got on his feet for the first time in the new House, Pierre Poilievre apologized for being late, saying “I had some meetings with extremely important people in East-Central Alberta. ” Poilievre, who got elected through his August byelection win in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot.

He thanked the electors of his new riding, which was held by former MP Damien Kurek, who resigned his House seat to allow Poilievre to run. And Pierre Poilievre had a record number of more than 200 candidates on the ballot paper.

Poilievre also thanked Carney for rapidly calling the byelection after Kurek resigned, as he had initially pledged. “I wonder if one day he might regret that decision.”

Pierre Poilievre probably did not want to spoil the bonhomie of the opening day as he did not raise or ask any embarrassing questions or launch an attack on the Liberal government, as he is well known for.

Quick to acknowledge the warm reception, Pierre Poilievre said: “In a spirit of good faith, I wonder if he agrees that our goal should be a Canada where hard work is rewarded, where food and homes are affordable, where streets are safe, where borders are solid, and where we’re all united under a proud flag.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney was not far behind in continuing with his rhetoric, saying, “I’m sure I speak for all parliamentarians in welcoming the member for Battle River-Crowfoot back to the House of Commons,” to which the House, including members of the Liberal caucus, applauded.

The prime minister added that Poilievre might notice a “few things that have changed since he was here last.” He mentioned the Liberals’ having the largest women’s caucus in Canadian history and the “spirit of collaboration” that led to the passage of the Building Canada Act and the Bloc Québécois bill to protect supply management in future trade negotiations.

“I agree with the sentiment and objectives of the Leader of the Opposition,” Carney said.

Conservatives had been instrumental in the spring in helping the minority Liberals pass the Building Canada Act, contained within Bill C-5, due to opposition from the Bloc Québécois and NDP. The two parties had opposed the bill due to their concerns that it would allow Ottawa to bypass existing federal legislation to fast-track major projects, while the Tories supported the legislation as a “better-than-nothing” approach.

Things became more thorny between the two leaders from then on.

Poilievre sarcastically said that it was true that things have changed in the Commons: “I look around this place, and when I left, there was a Liberal prime minister who was making excuses about breaking promises, running massive deficits. Costs, crime, chaos were all out of control,” he said.

“And whereas today we have a Liberal prime minister breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits, with costs, crime, and chaos out of control.”

Poilievre added that in a “nonpartisan spirit”, Tories would simply insist that Carney respect his own promises in relation to making Canada’s economy the strongest in the G7 or on reducing the cost of food.

Carney shot back that he understands Poilievre “was busy” and missed the Liberal income tax cut, the passage of Bill C-5, which also brought down federal barriers to internal trade, the removal of the GST on new homes under $1.5 million for first-time buyers, and the launch of the new housing agency Build Canada Homes.

“This government has been absolutely focused on improving affordability for Canadians,” Carney said. “We are building the strongest economy throughout the worst crisis in our history.”