Carney vows to tackle cost of living in Canada with new majority government, suspends fuel tax

OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney promised quick action on April 14 to transform an economy under threat from US President Donald Trump, hours after his Liberal party secured a majority in Parliament.

The Liberals swept three by-elections held on April 13, giving them full control of Parliament and Canada’s first majority government since 2019, during Justin Trudeau’s first term as prime minister.

“Now it’s time to get serious,” Mr Carney said, addressing the election results, adding that a reduced opposition role in controlling Parliament business could see less “showboating.”

“We’re building big, we’re moving fast, we’re just getting started,” he added.

Mr Carney’s Liberals won the most seats in a general election a year ago, but fell narrowly short of a majority.

Liberal poll numbers have improved over the past year, with Mr Carney consistently reminding Canadians that they live in a changed world and can no longer count on solid ties with the United States.

Mr Carney didn’t mention Mr Trump by name on April 14, but again stressed Canada’s economy needed to be “more independent.”

While more than 85 per cent of US-Canada trade remains tariff free, Mr Trump’s levies on key sectors have forced Canadian job losses and slowed growth.

The North American free trade deal that Mr Trump signed in his first term is also in jeopardy, with revision talks set for the coming weeks.

Mr Trump has called the pact “irrelevant.”

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer last week offered a more optimistic outlook for the future of the agreement known as the USMCA.

He told a group in Washington that the deal had “load bearing pillars” that function well and would likely be preserved, while certain provisions “have to be changed.”

‘Enormous shock’

The Liberal majority was made possible by a series of shock party defections since 2025’s election.

Four Conservatives and one left-wing New Democratic lawmaker have joined the Liberal caucus.

Mr Carney on April 14 dismissed Conservative criticism that he earned his majority through shady political deals.

He said every elected lawmaker had the right to support the government program.

“We’re fortunate to have them,” he said of the floor-crossers.

Mr Carney’s first policy move since clinching his majority was a response to Mr Trump’s war in Iran.

The prime minister announced federal tax breaks on petrol and jet fuel that will begin on April 20 and are set to run through Labour Day, seeking to ease energy costs that have skyrocketed since the United States and Israel began striking the Islamic republic.

Mr Carney called the war “an enormous shock in the global economy,” and described the energy tax breaks as a “responsible and temporary measure” to make life more affordable.

The Liberals easily held two Toronto districts in the April 14 by-elections, areas seen as safe seats for the party.

In the Quebec district of Terrebonne, the Liberal candidate edged out a challenger from the separatist Bloc Quebecois by just 731 votes.

In Montreal on April 14, 82-year-old Lisette Duquette told AFP she would have preferred a Bloc Quebecois victory but described Mr Carney as “talented” and cited a tendency to “rally” behind him, “given the whole global situation.”

Mr Marcel Tremblay, a 75-year-old Montreal resident, said the face-off with Mr Trump was Mr Carney’s key challenge.

“Now he has a majority. With what’s happening in the United States and internationally, we need to be strong.”

“The new prime minister is building ties with many other countries so that we’ll have fewer dealings with the United States. That’s a good thing,” he said. AFP