A consequential fall begins with familiar concerns and a new test for the Carney government

Prime Minister Mark Carney says this will be a 'crucial' session of Parliament. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)Social SharingOn the eve of Parliament's return to business, Mark Carney sought to manage expectations.

"We are meeting at a decisive moment for our country," the prime minister told a room full of Liberal MPs on Friday.

Near the end of his remarks, Carney told his caucus that this would be "a crucial session of the House of Commons."

"We are going to introduce some of the most consequential legislation, not just of this government, but in decades," he said.

Consequence can generally only be measured after the fact. But the prime minister's stark, ambitious foreshadowing and its promise of things to come seemed to at least meet this particular moment.

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The broader moment that Canada now finds itself in has been apparent for something like 20 months — since the president of the United States started talking about Canada as the 51st state or since the president ruptured the Canadian-American relationship with the first of a series of unwarranted tariffs. But over the course of a few weeks this summer — from the collapse of trade talks with the United States in late August to last week's investment summit and Carney's address to the European Parliament — the moment has seemed to gain new urgency and momentum.

And with the political winds at his back, Carney is now touting a legislative agenda that befits the moment.

The Building Canada Strong Act, tabled on Monday, might be the new centrepiece of that agenda, but it will likely not be the end of it. New social media regulations, tabled last spring, are awaiting debate. The operations of Canada's biggest airports might be turned over to private investors. And the Carney government's second budget — and its first with a majority in the House — will land sometime later this fall.

Beyond Parliament Hill, potentially consequential events are scattered far and wide: a Quebec election on Oct. 3, a referendum in Alberta on Oct. 19, a Canada-European Union summit in Montreal on Oct. 29. The Supreme Court should deliver a ruling on the notwithstanding clause, a provincial election in British Columbia could yet be triggered and as many as six federal byelections might be called.

But on the first day of the fall sitting, the Official Opposition attempted to focus on matters most immediate.

"To the Canadian people," Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said, speaking directly to the television camera across from him, "the message of Conservatives is that we will fight to save you money."

A month ago, Poilievre had asked the prime minister to immediately reconvene Parliament so that MPs could discuss the worsening trade war with the United States. But at question period on Monday it took several rounds before Conservative MPs got to questions about the Carney government's handling of counter-tariffs.

Poilievre challenged Carney to acknowledge that the cost of living — specifically, the prices being paid for things like housing, gas and groceries — was still unacceptably high. Carney pointed to measures his government had taken to address affordability concerns — an income tax cut, a tax break for first-time home buyers, an enhanced GST credit.

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Poilievre was unimpressed — all Canadians have received from the prime minister, he said, "is "big talk around the world and big bills here at home." Carney countered that Canadians knew it was the war in Ukraine, the war in Iran and a trade war that was increasing costs for Canadians. 

Poilievre said it was federal policy that was to blame for consumer prices. Carney begged to differ.

It is hard to argue with the general relevance of such questions, both practically and politically. And "affordability" might yet grind away at the Carney government the way it undid Justin Trudeau's government — it might yet somehow revive Poilievre's political fortunes.

But if the history books remember the fall of 2026, it is likely to be for more dramatic matters.

It was not until the last intervention of Monday's question period — the lone opportunity provided to an NDP MP — that the government was asked something specific about that consequential legislative agenda.

"Well, Mr. Speaker, the real nature of this government is starting to appear," said the NDP's Don Davies, alleging that the Liberals were about to trample on the right to strike with the Building Canada Strong Act.

Patty Hajdu, the jobs minister, dismissed Davies's concerns and shortly thereafter her colleague, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, tabled Bill C-39, a 243-page piece of legislation that makes changes to environmental regulation, impact assessment and labour laws.

Speaking to reporters outside the House, McKinnon called it the government's "most significant piece of economic legislation yet."

Hajdu said the government was "responding to a crisis" and "doing exactly what Canadians have asked us to." 

If question period was any indication, the loudest opposition to C-39 may come from outside the House of Commons — in this case from environmental groups and organized labour.

Carney has built up an immense store of political capital over the last year and a half. And political capital exists to be spent. Carney's government has also not been particularly cautious before now. 

But C-39 — and whatever else of consequence could follow this fall — might newly test how and how well this prime minister and his government respond to criticism and objections — and how well the prime minister can bring Canadians along with an agenda that won't always be easy or unanimously applauded. Not even a wartime prime minister can take the public's support for granted.

Probably no one would dispute that this is — one way or another — a consequential moment for the country. The extent of those changes remains to be debated. And the consequences for the Carney government itself remain to be seen.

Aaron Wherry has covered Parliament Hill since 2007 and has written for Maclean's, the National Post and the Globe and Mail. He is the author of Promise & Peril, a book about Justin Trudeau's years in power.