Opposition parties are being “cavalier” about the possibility of triggering another federal election, says Liberal House Leader Steven MacKinnon — something he believes Canadians do not want.
MacKinnon made the comments Wednesday as opposition parties publicly laid out their demands for the upcoming federal budget, as well as their various red lines for supporting it.
The minority Liberals need at least three additional votes to pass the budget, which is treated as a confidence vote. If it fails, the Parliament will be dissolved and a new election will be triggered — just over six months after the last one.
“We have a minority Parliament, but we do believe we have a mandate,” MacKinnon told reporters ahead of the Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa.
“If there has to be an election, we will confidently take our plan to the people, but we don’t think an election is necessary and we think … the opposition parties are, in my view, being very, very cavalier about the country’s future.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney met privately with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre Wednesday afternoon to discuss the budget.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Poilievre said he and Carney had “a good conversation” and that both of them were in “listening mode.”
“I shared my view that we need the government to bring down its inflationary taxes and deficits,” he said.
“He didn’t make any commitments, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.”
Carney later delivered a primetime address to Canadians laying out the government’s priorities for the budget, his first as prime minister, which will be presented by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Nov. 4.
He highlighted plans for boosting non-U.S. exports, domestic investment and defence spending along with new plans for immigration and reducing wasteful spending.
In a letter to the prime minister earlier this week, Poilievre said Conservatives are demanding that the budget include tax cuts and that the federal deficit be kept under $42 billion.
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Carney has already signalled the deficit will be higher than the Trudeau government’s last estimates, unveiled almost a year ago, and both the interim parliamentary budget officer and private economists are predicting spending will push the budget deeper into the red.
Poilievre said earlier Wednesday that he hopes the Liberals will “reverse course and do the right things so that Canadians can afford their lives.”
Carney said in French during question period that the spending plan will be “an affordable budget and an ambitious one.”
The Bloc Québécois also recently laid out its own demands for the budget, including six that it called “essential” to earn the party’s support. Those included payment of $814 million to Quebecers to account for the federal carbon rebate paid out in other provinces, as well as increases to health transfers and new housing supports.
The NDP has said it won’t support an “austerity” budget, despite Carney previously using that exact term to describe the upcoming spending plan. The party is calling for investments that help working families.
“Mr. Carney is the head of a minority Parliament. It’s up to him to craft a budget that will win the support of one of the three opposition parties,” interim NDP leader Don Davies told reporters on Monday.
MacKinnon said Wednesday the government has consulted with all the opposition parties already, and said it’s up to them to ensure it passes.
“This Parliament will depend on whether the opposition parties want to go to — want to have an election,” he said. “The opposition parties have a big, big decision to make.
“We don’t think Canadians wish an election. We think Canadians wish that this Parliament continue and that the plan that the prime minister will be proposing to Canadians on the 4th of November be adopted.”
Asked about the Liberals’ stance after his meeting with Carney, Poilievre said it will be up to Canadians to judge the substance of the budget against how opposition parties vote.
“What I’ve tried to do is be fair-minded and just holding (Carney) to the promises that he made,” he said.
He said he and Carney did not discuss the prospect of another election.
An Ipsos poll for Global News released last month found 58 per cent of Canadians approve of the Liberal government’s performance under Carney, the highest rating for the party in 10 years.
The poll also found the Liberals continued to lead the Conservatives, 43 per cent to 39 per cent, if an election were held at the time of the polling.
Davies and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet have met with Carney to discuss the budget.
MacKinnon’s language was similar to comments he made outside Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, where he accused opposition parties of “cavalierly playing political games with the future of the country” by suggesting they won’t support the budget.
Blanchet told reporters later that day his party’s demands are not cavalier but are “clear, frank, sincere, and in the service of Quebecers.”
Asked Wednesday if he’s not confident about swaying a few MPs to vote with the Liberals, MacKinnon referenced a CBC/Radio Canada story Wednesday that said at least five Conservative caucus members were critical of Poilievre’s recent comments about the RCMP and his overall message.
“Maybe one of the five people that were quoted in the Radio Canada story this morning will find time to go to the bathroom,” MacKinnon said.
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