Question period falls into familiar groove as Carney dodges tariffs queries
OTTAWA — Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
That was the Conservative's message as the House of Commons kicked off its inaugural question period of the spring session, with newly-minted Prime Minister Mark Carney proving he's just as adept at dodging questions as his predecessor, Justin Trudeau.
Opposition leader Andrew Scheer started off with warm words of welcome for Carney before teeing off his first question on Canada's vanishing counter-tariffs.
'During the election campaign, it was 'elbows up' as he put retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., and secretly he dropped those tariffs to effectively zero,' Scheer said.
'But he didn't stop there, he told Canadians that the government would collect $20 billion in revenue from those tariffs and he used it to cost his platform. Now that those tariffs are going to bring in zero dollars — why wasn't he honest with Canadians during the election, and how is he going to make up the shortfall? Is he going to borrow it, print it or tax it?'
Carney dodged the question, choosing not to counter the Sheer's claims.
'Our tariffs have maximum impact on the United States, minimum impact on Canada, and we're dedicating all the revenues from those tariffs to supporting the workers and businesses affected by the unjustified American actions,' Carney said.
Scheer noted that even with a new body in the PM's seat, some things remain the same.
'Well, he didn't take long to pick up old Liberal habits of not being able to answer questions,' Scheer remarked, implying that the LIberals must have something to hide by delaying the budget until after the summer.
'The PM said 'undoing the damage of the last 10 years will require great speed,' but he's not going to table a budget for six months. If he's the man with the plan and the guy you hire in a crisis, why won't he table a budget before he goes on summer vacation?'
Carney didn't explain why he won't table a budget before this fall, oddly pointing out that the Conservative platform made no mention of tabling a spring budget.
'Our plan includes legislating for one Canadian economy and nation-building projects immediately to grow this economy, and we expect the support from all in this House.'
Carney also dodged questions on repealing the no-pipelines bill by repeating his previous response almost verbatim, prompting jeers from the opposition benches.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com X: @bryanpassifiume
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