Parliament is set to return after a three-month long summer break on Monday and the Liberal government’s agenda will be jammed packed this fall.
asserted
agenda → set → Monday
Prime Minister Mark Carney is running high in the polls, and his government maintains a majority of seats in the House of Commons, which gives the Liberal leader ample room to implement his policies.
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which → run → policies
Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon would not elaborate further on Friday about what’s in the legislation, citing parliamentary privilege, but said the bill will help Canada “attract investment, create jobs, and trade with the world.”
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Canada → elaborate → world
Carlene Variyan, Liberal strategist and partner at Summa Strategies, said the bill is a follow-up to the investment summit last week in Toronto, where Carney pitched Canada as an attractive place to invest for global investors.
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Carney → say → investors
The prime minister aims to attract $500 billion in private investment by the end of the decade.
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minister → aim → decade
Carney also announced at the summit that Ottawa will seek private investment to operate the country’s four biggest airports.
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Ottawa → announce → airports
“This supply chains bill will be a critical part of the prime minister’s ongoing efforts to ensure that Canada is viewed as a place that makes sense to invest in, that’s competitive to invest in, relative to other countries,” said Variyan.
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Variyan → ensure → countries
Labour unions have already voiced their opposition to making changes to the Canada Labour Code, noting that the expedited consultations and review seem to be motivated by corporate interests.
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consultations → voice → interests
Erin Morrison, NDP strategist and vice-president at Texture Communications, said Carney is walking into a fight with the country’s largest labour unions.
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Carney → say → unions
“(Jobs) Minister Patty Hajdu was doing a consultation, although I hesitate to call it a consultation because it was so short and surface level, that there is fear of the possibility of impacting the right to strike,” she said.
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she → do → right
“If that is the case, the NDP will be fighting tooth-and-nail this fall.”
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NDP → fight → ?
Morrison said this could ultimately hurt Carney’s economic agenda, because he needs workers onside to build the infrastructure and projects his government is targeting.
uncertain
government → say → infrastructure
“We’ve been out consulting all summer on this, we’ve listened, we’ve made some adjustments,” Carney told his caucus on Friday in Ottawa.
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Carney → consult → Ottawa
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre huddled with his caucus this past week in Penticton, B.C., to talk about strategy for the upcoming parliamentary session.
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Poilievre → huddle → session
Poilievre faces an uphill battle with Canadian voters, a recent poll published by the Angus Reid Institute showed that 13 per cent of respondents who voted Conservative in the 2025 federal election, would now vote for Carney if given the chance.
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who → face → chance
Even the deputy leader of the party, Melissa Lantsman, acknowledged that her and her caucus colleagues are “not in the position that we want to be in.”
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we → acknowledge → that
The Conservative leader remains focused on affordability concerns, which runs a close second to the U.S. trade war in terms of issues Canadian voters care about.
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voters → remain → issues
On Monday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will table a bill that extends the holiday on the gas excise tax until the end of January, after the Conservatives called on the federal government make the pause on the tax permanent.
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pause → table → tax
Yaroslav Baran, Conservative strategist and co-founder of Pendulum Group, said Champagne can expect the Conservatives to hammer the Liberals on their fiscal track record.
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Conservatives → say → record
“One can argue that in broad strokes, Mr. Carney is this governing with a considerably more Conservative agenda than his predecessor,” he said.
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he → argue → predecessor
“But if you look at the public accounts, deficits and debt are skyrocketing, and that’s going to be a very obvious opening for the Conservatives.”
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that → look → Conservatives
The federal budget will be tabled during the fall session, which will provide an update on the country’s finances.
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which → table → finances
Poilievre told his caucus members at his caucus retreat that he has found $150 billion in savings the Liberals can capitalize on, with proposed cuts to foreign aid, federal bureaucracy and government’s proposed high-speed rail project.
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Liberals → tell → aid
The federal government has made several new spending announcements over the summer months, including a national AI strategy, a food security strategy, a West Coast pipeline project and a cooperative prosperity agreement with the province of British Columbia.
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government → make → Columbia
Carney told his caucus on Friday that his government will “maintain its fiscal advantage” while also acknowledging the cost of borrowing for governments is increasing globally as bond yields rise.
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yields → tell → governments
Economists will be watching for how the government accounts for its new spending initiatives and how that impacts Canada’s deficit track going forward, though oil prices are expected to be an upside for government revenues.
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prices → watch → revenues
Budget watchers will also be looking for the federal government’s NATO defence spending plan and how it plans to achieve a four per cent of GDP spending target by 2030, as outlined by Carney himself this past spring.
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it → look → Carney
Champagne wrapped up his pre-budget consultations earlier this month.
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Champagne → wrap → consultations
At the investment summit, the government announced a “Productivity Super-Deduction” which will lower Canada’s marginal corporate effective tax rate on new business investment from roughly 13 per cent to 6.4 per cent.
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which → announce → cent
Carney also announced his government intends to privatize the operations of Canada’s four largest airports.
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government → announce → airports
“The big question mark to me, and what I think a lot of political watchers will be watching for this fall, is what the budget looks like,” said Variyan.
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Variyan → think → what
She noted that the government has already announced significant spending initiatives, including a $51-billion Build Communities Strong Fund for infrastructure and significant defence spending commitments.
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government → note → infrastructure
“I don’t see very much left in terms of big-ticket spending items for this fall budget, which means they’ll need something else to put in the shop window to create that sense of momentum and of doing things,” she added.
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she → see → things
If you look at the public accounts, deficits and debt are skyrocketing, and that’s going to be a very obvious opening for the Conservatives
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that → look → Conservatives
The U.S. trade war will also continue to loom large on Canadian domestic politics.
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war → continue → politics
Carney decided pause negotiations on a deal on sectoral tariffs with the U.S. last month, citing several last-minute demands from American negotiators that made a deal untenable.
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deal → decide → negotiators
As a result, both countries have slapped each other with tariffs on nearly $28 billion worth of goods.
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countries → slap → goods
While polling suggests the majority of Canadians support Carney walking away from the deal, the economic fallout from tariffs on key sectors of the Canadian economy could persist and worsen.
uncertain
fallout → suggest → economy
Baran said the Conservatives will continue to pressure the government on achieving a good agreement with the U.S.
Mexico and the U.S. are currently in the process of negotiating a bilateral agreement, with Reuters reporting that the two parties are working towards a deal before the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3.
Variyan said Mexico reaching a deal before Canada will not sway the prime minister’s negotiation strategy with the U.S. administration.
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reaching → say → administration
“I think that the prime minister has shown this summer that he’s not afraid to walk away from the table when a deal is offered that isn’t in our best interests, and so the dynamic will play out in the news cycle as something that creates some pressure,” said Variyan.
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Variyan → think → pressure
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
