Federal parties call each other names on start of new fall session

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OTTAWA — Federal MPs were talking tough on the first day back in the House of Commons after the summer recess, as they gear up for what one party leader called a game of chicken to bring down the government and force an early election.

Government House leader Karina Gould fired the first shots on Monday morning when she called Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre a “fraudster” for suggesting that Canadians will go hungry and be unable to heat their homes this winter because of the carbon tax.

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“When he is focused on having an election on the carbon price, what he’s trying to do is distract Canadians from his real agenda,” she said.

Gould accused Poilievre, among other things, of wanting to raise the age of retirement, cut pensions and remove access to dental care for seniors, and to get rid of $10 a day daycare and scrap the national school food program for families.

“Our job is to be up front and honest with Canadians. It’s to make sure that we are holding him to account to ensure that he faces the proper scrutiny because as Canadians get closer and closer to an election, he has to answer those tough questions,” she added.

Liberals have ramped up their rhetoric against their political opponents since their national caucus. Last week, in an interview with a Montreal radio station, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Poilievre a “liar” in response to claims he made about the carbon tax.

“There’s a convention around parliamentarians that we’re not supposed to call each other liars. Pierre Poilievre is a liar,” Trudeau said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters that he knew that an early election would be more likely after he ripped up his party’s supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals. Under the deal, New Democrats agreed to vote with the minority Liberals to keep them in power in exchange for the government introducing dental care and pharmacare.

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Poilievre has already promised to bring a confidence motion at the earliest opportunity to call the NDP’s bluff and force Singh to vote with the Liberals. But this opens a door for the Bloc Québécois to negotiate with the Liberals and vote to keep them in power on their terms.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said on Monday his party would have a small window of opportunity to make gains before the next election, which must be held by next fall. One of the areas his party is focused on is making sure all seniors older than 65 have access to an Old Age Security pension.

Asked how he would navigate this new political situation, Blanchet said his party will need a “very good compass” because all four main political parties will be playing the “chicken game” and, as a result, he said he does not think that “this session will last a very long time.”

“We are playing chicken with four cars. Eventually, one will hit another one and there will be wreckage,” he said.

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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May used her first press conference of the session to take shots at Singh for his change of heart about the carbon tax.

While she said she does not agree with Poilievre’s use of “nasty nicknames” such as “Sellout Singh,” May came up with a new name for the NDP: the “No Discernable Principles” party. She also said Singh should be “ashamed” for no longer supporting a price on carbon for consumers.

“It’s fine for Jagmeet Singh to say that he doesn’t listen to Pierre Poilievre, but Pierre Poilievre’s words come out of Jagmeet Singh’s mouth,” she said.

Singh said that is “not at all” the case. “Pierre Poilievre wants to have an open season for big polluters. He wants to let big polluters pollute as much as they want, with no limits and no consequences. That’s his plan. We reject that approach,” he said.

Singh also rejected the idea that the next election would be about the carbon tax — and said it should be a choice on the vision for Canada between Conservatives who cut services and the NDP who strengthen programs.

Trudeau said in a radio interview last week he knows Singh cares about the environment but does not have the “foggiest idea” of how to fight climate change.

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The amped rhetoric from all sides could change depending on who wins the Montreal and Winnipeg elections on Monday night. Already, Trudeau and Singh have indicated that they are not going anywhere and will be leading their respective parties into the next general election.

Whether an election is imminent or not, the Bloc leader said his principles will not change. “If it’s good for Quebec, we’ll be in favour of it. If it’s bad for Quebec, we will be against it. And nobody says that something that is good for Quebec is bad for Canada,” he said.

Blanchet said he is not prepared to put too much water in his wine when negotiating with the Liberals because it “would not taste as good.”

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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