Carney grilled on U.S. tariffs in his first question period in House of Commons

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney fielded questions about the trade war with the United States and his decision to delay the federal budget to the fall as he faced his first question period grilling in the House of Commons Wednesday.

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer welcomed Carney to the House before launching into a question about Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs.

“This is where democracy lives, and this is where we provide rigorous scrutiny on every word he says and every dollar he spends,” Scheer said.

While Carney defended his government’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Scheer accused him of falling into “old Liberal habits of not being able to answer questions.”

Scheer pressed Carney on his decision not to table a budget until after the summer. In reply, the prime minister shot back that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s 100-day plan during the election campaign also didn’t include plans to table a budget — and referred to Poilievre as the “former” MP for Carleton.

Poilievre was absent from the House of Commons Wednesday for the first time in two decades after failing to win re-election in his riding. He did not sit in the gallery to watch question period.

Bruce Fanjoy, the new Liberal MP who handed Poilievre his first electoral defeat in more than two decades, was given a rousing standing ovation from his Liberal colleagues when he rose to deliver his first member’s statement just before question period started.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet also went after Carney over tariffs, pointing out in a question that Tuesday’s throne speech made no mention of trade or tariffs.

Carney made a small dig at Blanchet over his absence from the event; the Bloc leader had criticized Carney for inviting the King in the first place.

“The throne speech, for those who were there,” Carney quipped, drawing laughter, even from Blanchet. “We heard about transformation of the global trade system, which is a crisis for Canada.”

Carney took nine questions in both languages in his first question period.

Carney has chosen to depart from his predecessor Justin Trudeau’s practice of taking every question on Wednesdays.

Trump, trade and Canada’s sovereignty were also front and centre as the Liberal caucus met on Parliament Hill Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, hours after the King presented the speech from the throne in Ottawa — which included several lines asserting Canada’s sovereignty — Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account that it would cost Canada $61 billion to join the planned “Golden Dome” missile defence program, or nothing at all if it joins the United States.

“Oh my God, he’s got to give that stuff up. Never going to happen,” Liberal MP Darren Fisher said on his way into the Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday morning.

“I take my lead from the people that I speak to in my community and across the country, and it’s very clear that people want us to stand up for Canada’s sovereignty,” Justice Minister Sean Fraser told reporters.

“Obviously, we want to partner with the United States where possible, but we do have to stand up for Canada’s interest economically and … from the sovereignty point of view.”

Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia’s office has confirmed that all 343 members of Parliament have now been sworn in.

Roughly a third of those MPs, including Carney, were elected for the first time in April.

Tom Kmiec, Conservative member of Parliament for Calgary Shepard, was named deputy Speaker and chair of committees of the whole on Wednesday.

Liberal House leader Steven MacKinnon told reporters six consecutive days have been set aside for debate on the throne speech before the government begins to table legislation. He did not say how many bills could be tabled during this short session.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2025.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press