OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government is not considering a federal election this spring as Parliament resumed on Monday.
“Of course we’re not,” he said, when asked by a reporter during a press conference in Ottawa if he was thinking about going to the polls. “We’re focused on results for Canadians.”
Carney made his comments during an affordability announcement at a grocery store in Ottawa, where his government announced a
. Quarterly GST payments will see an increase of 25 per cent over the next five years and there will be a one-time top-up of 50 per cent this June.
“We have the privilege of a mandate from Canadians, ” Carney added. “We were very clear, when we ran in the last election, on what we intended to do, very detailed platform and we are delivering on that.”
Carney said he invites Parliament to support his government in achieving that mandate. The Liberal government remains in a minority Parliament, at just 170 seats, they are still two seats away from a majority.
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon also attempted to shut down any notion that Liberals were angling for a snap election.
“I think this Parliament can work,” he told reporters on Monday. “I think Canadians expressed themselves only last April.”
In a letter addressed to Carney last week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party would be willing to work with the Liberals to fast-track key legislative priorities, including trade deals, approval of major projects, bail reform and affordability measures.
MacKinnon also called on the Opposition Conservatives to support the government in helping pass its agenda.
“Mr. Poilievre has to get out of the way and allow his MPs to vote on an ambitious crime-fighting agenda, to vote on a plan to grow our economy and to vote on a plan to make life more affordable to Canadians,” he said.
So far, the Liberal government has only been able to pass a handful of bills through the House of Commons.
MacKinnon said one of the first priorities is to get the federal budget through the house, which has not passed third reading.
On Monday, the Conservative Party showed a willingness to work with the Liberals on certain crime legislation, after Conservative members of Parliament in the justice committee voted to pause its study on the controversial government hate crimes bill, in favour of looking at the Liberals’ bail reforms.
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer said the government’s latest GST rebate announcement on Monday, is a “recycled Trudeau era policy” that won’t fix Canada’s food inflation problem.
Still, Scheer said his party would support legislation to enact the GST rebate, if nothing else is added to it.
“If they bring forward a simple bill, that just does exactly what they said today,” he told reporters. “Conservatives will never stand in the way of relief for Canadians.”
Despite Parliament resuming after a seven-week break, Carney was not in attendance for Question Period.
Instead, Carney met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford in Toronto.
Last week, Ford expressed his disappointment with Carney’s recent agreement with China, that would allow 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a 6.1 per cent duty rate into the Canadian market, in exchange for China’s lowering of tariffs on Canadian canola and seafood exports.
Ford said “so much for the partnership” upon learning about the deal just hours before it was announced.
During a visit to a pizza restaurant in Etobicoke, when asked if the two have made up, Ford said “we never had a problem.”
Ford and Carney both said they found many areas of agreement during their 45-minute meeting, with Ford hinting that help is on the way for the Canadian auto sector.
Carney’s agreement with China is also facing pushback from United States President Donald Trump, who threatened a 100-per cent tariff on all Canadian exports on Saturday, if Canada made a trade deal with China.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump referred to Carney as “Governor Carney” and said China “will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life.”
In response, Carney said there was no pursuit of a free trade deal with China, which would require notice to other trade partners under the Canada-United-States-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA).
Carney said the upcoming review of the North American trade pact could be playing a part in the president’s recent comments.
“It’s the expectation the president is a strong negotiator,” said Carney. “I think some of these comments and positioning should be viewed in the broader context.”
A recent poll by Abacus Data said if an election were held today, the Liberals would capture 41 per cent of committed voters, while the Conservatives would take 39 per cent. The poll was conducted with 2,008 Canadians aged 18 and over from January 12 to 16, 2026, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
National Post, with files from Stephanie Taylor
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