Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer says there are some issues that his party will work with the Liberals on as MPs return to Ottawa for the first day of the fall sitting.
Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill Monday morning, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon called on Conservative MPs to “work together” and to “help pitch in and build this country, to help make this country work better.”
When asked about MacKinnon’s comments — and to identify any issues on which the Conservatives are willing to work with the Liberals — Scheer said in an interview on CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos that he’s “hopeful” the Liberals are “serious.”
“In the last Parliament, the Liberals didn’t operate this way,” Scheer said, pointing to procedural wrangling over a Conservative led-privilege debate that had the House stalled for several months last fall.
“So, maybe this is a legitimate new chapter,” Scheer also said. “But look, it’s quite clear the Liberals had to steal Conservative ideas to get elected.”
Scheer referenced several examples, including Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to zero out the consumer carbon tax, to eliminate the GST on some homes and to introduce bail reform legislation.
“We will support policies that they lift from our platform. Of course we would support that,” Scheer said. “What we are on the alert for is when they graft their own tired policies that have been proven not to work onto those pieces of legislation.”
When asked by Kapelos whether that means the Conservatives are not ruling out keeping the Liberals in power for a bit longer, Scheer said there is a series of policies his party is ready to support.
“I wouldn’t describe it as keeping them in power, I think I would describe it as supporting ideas that we’ve already committed to,” Scheer said.
However, Scheer added the Conservatives will vote against some large ticket items — such as the $13-billion Build Canada Homes agency announced over the weekend — if they add to the deficit or add new levels of bureaucracy.
“So, on a case-by-case basis, when they bring in ideas that we’ve either campaigned on or committed or supported in the past, of course, will continue to support that,” he said. “But we will call out and highlight for Canadians the bad Liberal policies that are going to increase costs, drive up inflation or put pressure on taxes going up as well.”
First day back
This Parliament has a largely two-party makeup, with the governing Liberals just three seats shy of a majority, and the opposition Conservatives picking up two dozen new seats in the April election.
While Monday’s question period — the first since Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre won back a seat in the House of Commons in an August byelection — began cordially, the convivial tone didn’t last long.
Following a back-and-forth during which Carney welcomed Poilievre back to the House, the Conservative leader pivoted quickly to accuse the prime minister of “breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits with costs, crime and chaos out of control.
Carney hit back at the Opposition leader, saying he understands Poilievre was busy with his summer byelection, and therefore must have “missed” the Liberals’ summer announcements.
Earlier in the day on Monday, deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman stopped to speak to reporters on her way into West Block, outlining the party’s priorities, calling them “the priorities of Canadians.”
“We still have an immigration crisis, we have a housing crisis, we have a cost-of-living crisis,” Lantsman said. “We are going to oppose the government where it makes sense, we’re going to support things that make sense, and we’re going to expose what they’re not telling us.”
You can watch Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer’s full interview on CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos in the video player at the top of this article.
