Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre arrives on Parliament Hill before a meeting of the Conservative caucus in Ottawa on Wednesday.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre didn’t let the newly minted Liberal majority take any wind out of his sails as he faced off against Prime Minister Mark Carney for the first Question Period since the pivotal by-elections.
Though Mr. Poilievre made no mention Wednesday of the Commons’ new reality, Mr. Carney couldn’t hold back a jab at him over how the Liberals landed that majority: winning three by-elections Monday after welcoming five floor-crossers – four from the Conservative ranks – to their caucus.
Between the floor-crossers and the by-elections, the Liberals are up to 174 seats, leaving Mr. Poilievre’s Conservatives with 140.
In a spirited exchange riffing off Mr. Poilievre’s recent accusation that Mr. Carney is poorly educated in economics, Mr. Carney suggested Mr. Poilievre had lessons to learn.
“To learn a lesson, one has to have ears to hear. There are some on the benches opposite who have been listening,” Mr. Carney said to loud laughs from the Liberal benches.
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Mr. Poilievre landed his own punches, seizing on Mr. Carney claiming the Liberals made the newly announced gas tax break temporary because they didn’t want to drive up the deficit.
Mr. Poilievre leapt to his feet, his arms and smile wide as he attacked Mr. Carney’s record of deficit spending since taking office.
The Liberals’ fall budget projected a deficit of $78.3-billion for the fiscal year that ended March 31 – up from the $42.2-billion deficit projected for the same period under former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“Does he even read his own budget, or does he want Canadians not to know what is inside?” Mr. Poilievre asked.
Mr. Poilievre’s trademark Question Period energy was preceded by several MPs making a point of stopping to talk to reporters about why they still support him.
Poilievre commands the stage during Question Period on Wednesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
They cited the high number of votes the party won in the last election, as well as Mr. Poilievre’s victory in the party leadership review earlier this year, as proof they can still win a general election under his leadership.
“I think this is a long game that we’re playing,” Conservative MP Andrew Lawton said.
Carol Anstey, who won a Liberal seat in Newfoundland and Labrador for the Conservatives last year, credited Mr. Poilievre’s leadership for making that possible.
“I feel confident in this leadership, and I feel confident as we continue to move forward as a party,” she said.
Jason Kenney, a former Conservative cabinet minister and premier of Alberta, also came to Mr. Poilievre’s defence.
“I have been critical (constructively, I hope) about some aspects of his leadership, including the admittedly difficult problem of how to deal with the destabilizing threats and uncertainty emanating from Donald Trump,“ Mr. Kenney wrote on social media.
“But I am encouraged to see Mr. Poilievre modifying his approach to address lessons learned from the last election, e.g. his recent trips abroad, and a broader approach to communications. There is no doubt in my mind that he has the confidence of the Conservative Party, and has won the right to contest the next election.”
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Mr. Poilievre has not taken questions from reporters since Monday’s by-elections.
The Conservative Party sent out a fundraising pitch Wednesday criticizing Mr. Carney’s majority and promising the Conservatives aren’t going anywhere – though it didn’t name Mr. Poilievre.
The letter urged their supporters to stick with the Conservatives as the Liberals are counting on Canadians to feel defeated, walk away and let them govern without accountability.
Mr. Carney has said one of the things he hopes to see with a majority is more substantive debate and less showboating, as well as the opposition no longer being able to stonewall his agenda.
But the Tories pointed out Wednesday that Mr. Carney’s Liberals do their share of stalling. They are currently filibustering the ethics committee’s efforts to call Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to testify on his partner’s connections to the high speed rail project.
Soon the Liberals might be able to shut down the committee’s efforts altogether.
From left, newly elected Liberal MPs Tatiana Auguste, Danielle Martin and Doly Begum walk with Prime Minister Mark Carney to Wednesday's caucus meeting.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Right now, opposition MPs outnumber the government, but once the Liberals have the majority in Parliament, they’ll get more seats on committees.
“There’s a generally accepted principle that committees reflect the composition of Parliament, and you can expect news on that not too far away,” Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said Wednesday.
The three new MPs – Danielle Martin, Tatiana Auguste and Doly Begum – have yet to be sworn in, though they were on Parliament Hill on Wednesday.
Mr. Carney was all smiles as he arrived with them for the Liberal caucus meeting.
“We have a great deal of work to do, and we approach that with humility and determination,” he said, the new MPs beaming beside him.
“Canadians have placed their trust in the government’s plan. We now have reinforcements to help implement that and we’re going to go straight to work.”